Little Monster
by Astronomer Always
Summary: "I'm not the monster they think I am. I'm nothing like that.I did a lot of bad things when I was kid; I admit. I took a few wrong turns, went down the wrong road, but I didn't know what I was doing. That doesn't mean I'm the monster they say I am."
1. Falling out

**Welcome to my new story! It's going to be a _long_ one. And there will be drama! There will be suspense! There will be twists and turns! And you'll be sent on a rollercoaster of emotions, some of which you have yet to experience! Or maybe not, I dunno….**

**Anyways, like all of my other stories, titles of future chapter are posted on my profile so if you want a little sneak peak of future chapters, there it is. Titles of chapters _ALWAYS _have something to do with the chapter. This chapter in particular is short, but every chapter after will be long.**

**Lastly, unlike my other stories there will be no romance or pairing going on here. I really want to write a story without having to think about who i'm pairing who up with. Without any ado...**

**Read On!**

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><p>Sitting the sixth grade class at Third Street elementary were children how were all waiting anxiously for the bell to ring, signaling recess. If you were a new student in this class, who would not notice that one of the students was missing. This student was not only missing from his class, but was also missing from his group as well.<p>

It all started halfway through fifth grade.

The first incident started innocently enough in the fifth grade; TJ, Spinelli, Vince, Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus were tired of only being allowed to play with the worn out and deflated balls on the playground. So they planned to break into the room that Ms. Finster kept the good balls away from the kids. Unfortunately, Randall was snooping on them, and snitched their whole plan to Ms. Finster, getting them in trouble. By the second recess, they had come up with a plan to get back at him for what they did. The plan was to build a sling for him to walk over. Once he did, it would be triggered, and he would be sent flying into a deep mud puddle. What wasn't anticipated were the other kids running around on the playground.

A large group of children ran right over their trap, and were sent flying into the mud. They landed in a pile with elbows and knees connecting with jaws and backs, leaving them bruised and scraped. Quickly, they ran over to the kids, and helped them up out of the pile. However, before he reached the fallen kids, TJ stopped and smiled at the scene in front of him.

It wasn't a normal smile like a child might get after they had found an extra piece of candy, or if they'd done better on a quiz than they thought. That was a sick and twisted smile that should never be on the face of a child. Before his friends asked him what was wrong, he continued on and helped the kids out of the pile, trying his very best not to smile. After a few day's he completely forgot about it.

The second incident didn't go unnoticed. It was April, and for some reason, everyone wanted to play on Old Rusty. Since it was so crowded on and around the jungle gym, the gang as well as a few other kids chose not to play on it. Instead, the six friends decided on a five-on-one basketball game, with TJ, Spinelli, Gretchen, Mikey and Gus playing against Vince. Like always, Vince was winning 52 to 0. But that fact was completely forgotten when the sound of metal bending filled their ears. Turn around they watched as the jungle gym swayed, and saw the frightened faces of the kids that were hanging onto the structure. Because Old Rusty was rebuilt last year with the same old and rusted parts, the structure wasn't much better off than before.

They watched in horror as the structure finally fell over with a loud metallic bang. Soon the sound of cries of pain filled the playground air. They were stuck where they stood, unable to move because of the shock they felt. They were only brought out of it by the nearby sound of laugher. Turning around toward the laughter, they could see TJ hunched over, trying not to laugh harder than he already was.

"What's so funny?" Spinelli asked him. He continued to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Asked Vince,

"N-nothing," Said TJ as he wiped away the tears laughing so hard produced. "C'mon, let's go help them…"Chuckling as we walked towards the pile of twisted metal and children with the others following, confused.

Looking back on that, the rest of the gang thought that they should've suspected something was going on. When they did finally did notice something was wrong, it was too late.

It was the summer between fifth and sixth grade for the group, and they were playing another 5-on-1 game of basketball in the park. Somehow the basketball bounces off the court and away from the group. They chased it as it bounced out of the park and onto a bridge above a road. They tried to grab the ball but couldn't, and watched as it bounced over the edge. The next thing they heard was the sound of a windshield breaking and a car swerving on the road below. Looking over the edge, they watched as the oncoming cars crash into the car that had their ball stuck in the windshield, creating a pile up. The gasped at the freak accident below them, only to be distracted at the manic laughter behind them. Turning around they looked at TJ who was leaning against the guardrail, laughing as if he heard an extremely funny joke.

"What are you laughing at?" Vince asked him. He continued to laugh.

"Do you think this is _funny_?" Spinelli asked him. He nodded.

"It's not funny, TJ!" Mikey told him. "Those people are probably hurt!"

"I-I know…," Said TJ as he tried to stop laughing. "But it's still funny…." He continued to laugh in front of his friends.

"What is with you?" Asked Vince. "This is serious!"

"N-no it's not! Just look!" He pointed over the edge of the bridge and the others looked. They watched as the drivers and passengers of the cars got out their cars unharmed by the accident. "They're fine!"

"That doesn't mean its okay to laugh at it!" Said Gretchen.

"Okay," TJ said, calming himself down. "Okay, I'm wrong for laughing. But none of them are hurt. C'mon, we all have to be home before the street lights come on." Walking away from the scene, the others exchanged confused looks from what had just happened.

The final straw for the rest of the group happened the first day of school for them in the sixth grade. It was lunch time, and like all other school lunches, the students found he food to be barely edible. However, something about the way this lunch tasted was off. The gang sat at their table, poking at their food. After one bite, they thought something was suspicious. They weren't willing to take another bite.

"Something's wrong with the food," Gus said. "I wonder what."

"Maybe they changed the ingredients over the summer," Gretchen suggested.

"Or maybe it tastes weird because we haven't tasted it since last year," Said Mikey.

"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick," Said a kid across the cafeteria. Holding his stomach in pain, he ran out of the cafeteria to the boys room. Soon the other students complained of the same thing and ran towards the bathroom. Watching the other students push each other out of the way to get to the bathroom, Spinelli, Gretchen, Vince, Gus, and Mikey heard the same laughter from a few weeks ago during summer break. Like before they turned and saw TJ laughing at the other kids misfortune.

"It's not funny!" Spinelli yelled at him. "They're sick!"

"No their not," TJ told her in between laughs. "It's just laxative, they'll be fine. In about an hour!" He continued to laugh, grabbing his sides as they began to hurt from laughing so hard.

"You ate some too!" Vince said him.

"No I didn't! I brought my own lunch today, but you guy's ate the school lunch!" Realising what he said was true, the rest of the gang looked at one another and started to become aware of what their stomachs felt like. So far nothing happened and they felt completely normal, but they each still took a bite of the food and were on alart for anything that felt strange.

"You poisoned us?" Spinelli snapped at him. He nodded, holding back his laugh through a smile.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Mikey asked him.

"It's free game," Said TJ. "I would be playing favorites if I didn't!"

"I've just about had it you and your sick jokes!" Spinelli yelled at the laughing boy. "Until you start acting sane again, don't expect us to hang around with you!" She got up from her seat at the table and walked away with the others following in agreement.

That was the last time they would hang out for a very long time.


	2. DevilMayCare

**Okay, to avoid confusion this chapter takes place at the being of the last chapter. I know that might seem confusing, but if you remember, the last chapter was mainly flashbacks and before then, they were in the classroom. So it picks up from there. It's about two months into the gangs sixth grade year just for reference.**

**Another interesting note, I know i made Principal Prickly seem like the evil person in the world in another story of mine, but I am going to redeem him in this story (weird right?). But that won;t come for a while.**

**And just so the title of this chapter doesn't confuse the hell out of people, Devil-may-care means about the same as happy-go-lucky. It means reckless and I used it because…it sounds cool. And it goes along with the chapter incredibly well. So without further ado…**

**Read on!**

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><p>In the back of Third Street School, TJ found himself sitting on the ground with the schools balls on one side of him, and a medium sized box on the other. Instead of being in class where he was supposed to be, he skipped to do something he believed to be worth his time. What they were teaching in class was not interesting to him, and he thought that if he was going to be in school, he was going to have fun there the entire time and not just the two hours the school allowed. Besides, school was meant for learning, and since he wasn't learning in class, he was going to go and find something to learn.<p>

On this particular day, TJ planned to play the biggest prank he had ever played. It was so big in fact, that it took several weeks to plan and make it _just_ perfect. Over time he had gotten bored of playing pranks on one or a few people, that was kid stuff in his mind and he wasn't much of a 'kid' anymore. He was, as the grown-ups put it, a 'young man.' And since he did small pranks when he was a _kid_, then he figured that he should be doing big pranks now that he was a young man. That was just fine with him, as he was interested in _different_ types of pranks anyways.

Before, his pranks were simply just for getting back at those who deserved it. Now he found himself wanting to do pranks to watch what happened to those who he was pranking. Those things were not usually safe. He remembered how one time he played a prank on the school, or rather those who dared to eat the school lunch and they had all gotten sick. Though the kids were sick, it was funny to him, and he wanted to do more of that which was why he was where he is today.

The balls to his left were deflated by him; that took only a few minutes for him to do because they didn't have much air in them in the first place. To his left was a box heat held the most important part of his plan. Using a piece of paper and tape he made a funnel. Putting that down beside him, he grabbed one of the deflated rubber balls and opened the box to reveal lots of smaller boxes behind him. Grabbing one he started to open it until he remembered a crucial step.

"Duh," He said to himself, feeling dumb for what he had almost forgotten. "I gotta put on the lotion so it doesn't affect me…" Looking around he found a small pink bottle. He squeezed some of the lotion out onto his hand and rubbed it on his arms, hands, chest and face. Taking and extra precaution he rolled up his jeans and rubbed some on his lower legs. With that done, he continued what he was doing.

Opening one of the smaller boxes TJ used the funnel to pour the power that was in the box into the ball. After about two cups were in the rubber ball he stopped and grabbed the nearby air pump. Carefully, he pumped the ball full of air. When it was full enough he slowed his pace until he couldn't force anymore air in. Carefully, he put the ball inside the cart that was used to bring them out to the students during recess. With a smile he repeated the process on the other balls until he was finished.

Returning the ball cart to its normal position, he hid with three balls he took for backup and waited until the bell for recess rang.

~*~MEANWHILE~*~

Focusing on the difficult math equations on their papers Spinelli, Gus, Mikey, Vince, and Gretchen, who found the problems to be child's play, urged for the bell to ring to free them of their prison. All day they did work from their history textbooks, read several very large chapters from their English textbook, survived a science lecture from their teacher, and now they were working on the math problems they had to complete. More than once they had to stop and rub their sore fingers. But they were happy knowing that because they had to focus on their work that time had passed faster and that meant recess would come sooner.

Normally recess would mean that they would execute a plan with the missing person in the class, but after the falling out just before the school year began, that was not going to happen. After being included in TJ target for his pranks and seeing the nature of the prank they refused to hang out with him until he stopped. Even after two months however, he hadn't.

Soon the bell ring, snapping the students out of their trance induced by the focus on their work and they were running out side for a little slice a heaven they called recess. Walking out the double doors they looked around for anything that looked suspicious. Because TJ wasn't in class today they knew that he was up to something and that it usually was not good. But they didn't see anything out of the ordinary and continued their way to the ball cart.

As usual Randall pushed the cart full of balls for the students to play with. When the students saw that the balls were actually inflated for once, they clamored for one of their own and when they were all taken, they when off to play their own games.

The remaining five of the gang had managed to grab a basketball and was headed to the court to play a game of 4-on-1.

"Wow, the balls actually have air in them today," Said Vince tossing the ball between his hands. "Now we can play a decent game."

"It makes sense. We're not allowed to play with the newer balls that are kept locked away inside the school," Said Gretchen. "So to keep us from trying to gain access to those, they would make these usable to us."

"Whatever the reason is, their good now," Said Spinelli. "C'mon, let's go play." Sudden there was a loud BOOM from across the playground. Turning around they saw a small group of students with a white haze around them. Coughing, the students in the haze looked around to see what had happened. Then there was another BOOM and another coming from all over the playground until there was a white haze all over the playground. When it cleared students were wondering what had happened. On the ground laid the torn remains of the balls that they were playing with and it became clear that something from inside them caused the haze. Then, they all were starting to itch very badly.

~*~MEANWHILE~*~

As he looked from the side of the school, TJ smiled as the students began to scratch wildly and sneeze uncontrollably from what he had put in the balls; itching and sneezing powder. The smile soon turned to a chuckle and that into a laugh. Grabbing one of the balls he had, he threw it onto the playground where he thought the powder didn't spread. Everyone was itching and sneezing and he saw that his prank was a complete success. After throwing the last two balls out onto the playground he made is way from the side of the school to get a better view of his work.

The sound of him laughing grabbed the attention of the students on the playground because none of them were laughing. They were wondering how with could have happened while trying to stop themselves from itching and sneezing. Closing his eyes as he laughed, TJ didn't notice the five students that approached him.

"Did you do this?" Asked a voice. He was grabbed by his collar a pulled forward. Opening his eyes he could see it was Spinelli how asked the question and who was holding onto his shirt. He nodded, holding in his amusement. Behind her he could see the rest of the gang scratching and sneezing like the rest of the playground. "You think this is funny? It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" He said. "It's funny to me!" With a push he was on the ground. Still he continued to laugh. Angry from the prank he played, Spinelli grabbed a handful of the white powder from off of the ground.

"I bet it wouldn't be funny if it happened to you!" She said as she through the powder onto him. Even after it was on him, he didn't scratch or sneezed like the others.

"You didn't think I would've thought about that?" TJ said to her. "Why would I not make sure that I wasn't affected?" With that he got back up on his feet and started to walk away.

"C'mon guys. Let's go try and wash this stuff off," Said Vince. Mumbling in agreement they all headed towards the bathrooms. While they went to make an attempt to get the powder off, TJ sat on the stairs to the school at get a full view of the playground. Kids were trying anything to stop themselves from itching. Some were rubbing their backs against each other, and most were trying to manage to scratch their whole bodies at once.

"DETWEILER!" Looking to his left, TJ watched as a very irate looking Ms. Finster approaching him. Smiling her stood up. "What have you done this time?"

"Why nothing Ms. Finster," TJ said. "I haven't done a thing. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about you little hooligan!" Grabbing onto his sleeve she dragged him into the school towards the Principal's office. Soon he was standing outside of the door to the office and instead of walking in with shame for what he had done, he stood up straight and started to go in with pride. He was proud of what he did, and wasn't going to hold back his pride for anyone. Closing the door he walked into the room.

"What are you in for this time, Detweiler?" Principal Prickly asked him.

"It's difficult to put into words, sir," Said TJ. "But if you just turn around and look out the window you can see it better than I could ever explain it." After looking up from his paperwork, Prickly turned around and looked out the window. Outside the playground was covered in the itching and sneezing powder. "What is that stuff?"

"Itching and sneezing powder, sir."

"The school board is going to have my head for this," He said turning around and rubbing his closed eyes with his thumb and index finger. "What ever happened to the pranks you used to play? The ones that where on individuals and didn't do this much damage? Those go unnoticed by the school board! When those kids parents start calling in I'm gonna lose my job over this!"

"Those pranks became boring," Said TJ. "I needed something new, something exciting."

"And what about your friends? Are they in on it, too?"

"Yeah, right. Those guys don't know how to have fun anymore, so I ditched them months ago. So what's my punishment this time?"

"A month's detention should set you straight," Said the Principal.

"Yeah, that's a really good idea," TJ told him. "Give me detention so i can do my homework before I get home where I can think of _more_ things to do to everyone; that's smart of you. Even if I don't do my homework there I can still come up with more pranks and do my homework when I'm at home. Either way you can't win."

"What has gotten into you, Detweiler? It's like over the summer you became evil."

"Not evil sir," Said TJ. "It's just…..have you seen the look on peoples faces when I do this? It's priceless! So what's the harm in it? I get better at pranks, they get some excitement in their lives, and I keep you busy so the board doesn't think you're only here for the summer vacation. So what if a few kids get scratched or bruised or if a few things get blown up? It's not the _worst_I can do, trust me. I can do a lot worse than this. Now if you don't mind," He said grabbing the piece of paper with his punishment written on it. "I have to get to class." Waving the principal goodbye, TJ headed out the door and began to walk to class. Walking through the halls the students, who were still trying to stop themselves from sneezing and scratching, sent looks of anger at him. Pausing outside of the classroom TJ turned around to face the angry kids.

"Why so serious?" He said before turning back around and laughing to his seat. Looking at the clock he could see that there were a few more minutes before class started. Opening his desk he took this chance to look at the small device that was the most important part of his last prank for the day. After looking around for it he picked it up and held it. It was a small control with an on/off switch and a single bright red button in the middle. It took him weeks and lots of reading on electronic engineering to put it together but it was finished. Once students started to come into the class, he put the control away and began to wait for the perfect time.

The next lesson for the day began, and although the teacher said that all of the information she was presenting would be on the test of Friday, TJ wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. Instead of taking notes like the rest of the class, he was drawing out his pranks for tomorrow. Like always, he planned for everyone to get a dose. But how?

'It has to involve something sticky like glue, but stretchy like rubber….' He thought to himself. 'But even if I do make something like that how am I gonna spread it around? People aren't gonna play with the balls after today…..' Writing down idea for his next idea, he looked up at the clock and decided that it was time. Opening his desk he grabbed the control and flipped the switch to 'on' making the button light up. Smiling, he pressed the button and counted down from three. Exactly three seconds later everyone's desk opened with a small explosion. Everyone screamed in surprise and smoke started to pour out. While the student were trying to figure out what had happened to their desks, like always, TJ was laughing at what he had done. Before the teacher could even tell him to go to the principal's office, he stood up and went, laughing the entire way.

"I'm back!" He shouted as he entered the principal's office. "Did you miss me?"

"It hasn't even been 30 minutes!" Principal Prickly said to him. "What could you have possibly done?"

"Blow up everyone's desk," TJ said casually. "So what other punishment are you gonna give me now? Another month of detention? Or maybe eraser duty, you haven't given me that yet."

"I don't know what to do with you!" He said. "No matter what punishment I give you, you keep doing these things and they keep getting worse! So it's not worth giving them anymore. Get out of my office, Detweiler."

"I'm glad you see it my way, sir," Said TJ. Waving a goodbye, he headed out the door. Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day and when back to class to get his things. Like before, the other students sent heated looks his way and he still ignored them. After grabbing his backpack he headed outside to his bike, but he didn't notice the paper with his plans written on it fall out of his backpack. However someone did.

"Hey you guys," Said Spinelli. "Look at what I found!"

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><p><strong>Whoa, A cliffhanger! When will I update? Probably a day or two, i'm trying to make each chapter 3,000 words long. (crazy, right?) But there is a lot I want to happen and i need to figure out how to arrange it.<strong>

**Donna nnov: to answer your question from the review from Fit for A King, yes I did name them after kings and queens! Seems appropriate for the two of them. ;D **

**Please Review!**


	3. Pint Sized Mayhem

**Sorry about the delay, life caught up with me. Here chapter three, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did thinking it up. **

**This chapter takes place a few minutes after the last chapter. It shouldn't be too confusing.**

**Read on!**

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><p>Not too long after find the note on the ground and reading what was inside it, Spinelli, Vince, Gretchen, Gus, ad Mikey found themselves standing near the cheese box with all the other students nearby. Normally they all would've gone home now (because staying after school without detention was just plain weird) but this was considered to be an emergency. It only took a few moments to recognize that the handwriting in the note belonged to TJ, and if it belonged to him then it might offer a chance to prepare for what he might have in store for the student body tomorrow. Not wanting to be selfish with their findings, they spread out and managed to get all the other students to gather around the cheese box.<p>

"Like, what's this all about?" Ashley A. shouted from the crowd. "I have a hair appointment to get to!"

"Why did we tell the Ashley's to come here?" Spinelli whispered to Gretchen who was standing next to her.

"Because we need everyone's help with this," Gretchen answered back. "Listen everybody! We have found something extremely important!" After she was done speaking, Vince stood on top of the cheese box and held the wrinkled sheet of paper up for the crowd to see.

"Is that it?" Someone from the crowd yelled. "A sheet of paper?"

"Not just any piece of paper," Spinelli said, climbing on top of the cheese box. "It fell out of TJ's backpack and it has is pranks for tomorrow written on it!" Once she said that everyone stopped talking and paid attention. "If you all are annoyed by what he keeps doing then you'll listen to what we have to say!"

"So what's on it?" Asked Digger Dave.

"Well, it's mostly scribbles," Gretchen said, taking the paper from Vince. "But there's a rough drawing of what looks like the lockers in the hallway and next to it are the words 'gooey, sticky, and stretchy.' And at the bottom there's what looks like a picture of a sling. Next to that is 6:00 a.m. So it looks like he's planning on putting something in our lockers an hour before school starts."

"We were thinking of coming in right after he sets it all up and taking it out of our lockers," Said Vince. "That way he doesn't get the chance to prank us tomorrow."

"And you need us because?" Asked Ashley, growing impatient.

"We don't know the combinations to your lockers," Gretchen told her. "Do you really want us to break into your lockers?"

"It's not even that!" Spinelli shouted. "I'm tired of being terrorized every day! I say we fight fire with fire! We can't just stand around and do nothing about this!" She and the rest of the gang continued on, talking about how the student body needed to fight against what was making their daily lives unbearable. It seemed unfair at first; a whole playground against one kid couldn't possibly be fair. But it wasn't fair that the one kid made drove the whole playground to the point that they were scared of playing or opening their desk. Slowly they all came up with a plan for tomorrow to strike back for the first time. They all knew that they were going up against the prankster prince, but they had to do try. Something was better than nothing.

~*~MEANWHILE~*~

"Where did I put that thing?" Turning his room upside down and inside out, TJ looked for the folded sheet of paper that he scribbled his plans for tomorrow down on. It may have been written in haste and he even had trouble reading it himself, but for the sake of humor he would decipher it. The only problem now was finding it.

'Maybe I left it in my desk,' He thought to himself as he looked through the contents he spilled out of his backpack. 'It wouldn't be the first time that happened…..' Standing up he looked around his room. After spending an hour looking for the folded paper he turned his room into, as his mother would put it, a disaster zone. He knew that soon his mother would come in and scold him for not cleaning it like she told him when he came home but like usual he didn't care.

Lately he didn't understand exactly _why_ he ever listened to his parents and decided that if he didn't have a reason to, then he wasn't going to. Whenever he was told to take out the trash, clean his room, or do the dishes he ignored them and did what he wanted to do. Of course he was grounded for his actions, but he ignored that too. But it wasn't like he left his room much anymore. Plans take a lot of time to come up with, and he spends that time in his room at his desk only helped.

'I think I remember enough to start from scratch,' he thought. 'Something stretchy like rubber, but sticky like glue, right? Right. Now where did I put that chemistry set? I think I put it in the closet….'

Locking his door TJ opened his closet and dug to the bottom of the pile of clothes. He pulled out a colorful rectangular box labeled: Mr. Junior Chemistry Set: Sticky Edition. A few years ago he received this as a present from his grandmother on his birthday. Back then he wasn't interested in chemicals, but his parents wouldn't let him get rid of it. Now he was glad she didn't. It wasn't a real chemistry set with actual chemicals. It just gave instructions and the tools on how to make goo. Depending on the edition it would be slimy, sweet, or stinky; the list goes on and on. In this case, it was sticky goo.

He opened the box, grabbing the instructions inside and ignoring the tools; he had to make enough for the whole school. The list for the goo was short, and the ingredients were easily found around the house. With a smile he got to work, looking in the kitchen, garage, and bathroom for what he needed.

~*~LATER~*~

Dusting of his hands TJ stepped back and looked at his creation. A large amount of a green gelatinous substance was inside a vat. Taking a handful, he played with it in his hands. He stretched it, squished it, and after twenty minutes of struggling, put it back in the vat with the rest. It was perfect. If it took him that long to get it out of his hands, he couldn't imagine how long it would take to get it out of your hair. The instructions said that it couldn't be rinsed off with water; in fact, that made it worse. The thought of the students losing their minds trying to get it off of themselves make him laugh. Putting the lid on top of the concoction, he lifted it on top of an old red wagon of his and hid it in the garage.

He walked back into the house, managing to avoid his parents and darted to his room. Once he set his alarm, the prankster prince headed into the bathroom to take a bath and head to bed early. A plan this big required him to get up early, and he did not want to be tired.

~*~THE NEXT MORNING (AT ABOUT 5:58 A.M.)~*~

Hiding in the bushes at the front of the school, the five remaining group members watched as T J picked the lock to the schools front door. They were not alone in their pursuit; the entire school was hiding in the bushes with binoculars waiting for the signal to move in. After he walked into the school with a wagon carrying the vat, Spinelli, Vince, Gretchen, ad Mikey headed for the windows to watch him while Gus stayed behind to give the other students the signal.

"Do you see him?" Vince asked the others. They all looked in through a window that belonged to a classroom.

"Not yet," Gretchen answered. After a few seconds they could see a faint shadow pass in front of their view. "There he his! It looks like he's going to the lockers."

"Are there any windows in the hallways?"

"No," She told him. "The only way we can see exactly what he's doing is if we go inside."

"You guys wanna risk it?" Asked Spinelli. "I mean, I will 'cause that's me. But are you guys up for it?" The others looked at each other, not sure of what to say.

"Well, only one person needs to go in," Gretchen told her. "And you sort of already volunteered."

"Gee, thanks," Spinelli said heading towards the front door.

~*~LET'S SWITCH POV~*~

"I honestly don't think I did my best with this," TJ said as he slammed the last of a set of lockers shut. "I think I could've done a lot better with this. Should've made it so that their hair would fall out or it would burn their eyes or something like that. But it'll have to do for today." Grabbing the wagon he continued down the hallway to the next set of lockers. The hardest part of his plan had been actually getting up out of bed. After that it was easy. Besides the goo, he had to put a sling inside the lockers to catapult it. That only took a few seconds, and after a few minutes, he was done with ten lockers. At first he thought he hit a hitch when he didn't know how to open everyone's locker, but the combination lock only needed to spin around counter-clockwise five times for it to unlock.

Reaching the last set of lockers he stopped when a thought entered his head.

'Only the fifth and sixth graders have lockers,' TJ thought. 'I can't reach all the students this way.' He kicked the lockers in frustration while saying a few words that would've been considered inappropriate for school. 'I didn't think this all the way through. Maybe I can put in their desks….no, they would expect that after yesterday.'

"Guess this is gonna have to do," He mumbled. "Today is not my best day…." Continuing with his original plan he opened the locker and set up the slings and put the homemade goo inside. Slamming the last locker shut he let out a yawn and headed for the doors.

Meanwhile as he left the school and began to walk down the street, Spinelli headed to the side of the school where the other were waiting for her.

"It's in the lockers, just like the note said," Spinelli told them. "He's gone now so I think we can call everyone in."

"Gus," Vince spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Go ahead and give the signal." Within seconds kids started pouring onto the playground. Once everyone was there, the five of them explained the information they had gathered, everyone below the fifth grade had left; only the fifth and sixth graders were needed because they were the ones that the lockers belonged to. Then when they were gone and heading back to bed, the rest of them went inside and stood by their lockers. One by one they opened them, stepping out of the way to avoid getting it. The goo flew and hit the wall, sticking where they struck. Because the sun was beginning to rise, they could see that it was green, but they still couldn't quite figure out what it was made of. Mumbles rose out of the crowd trying to think of what it was.

"What do you think it is?" Gus asked. He step forward and poked at it, but found that when he tried to pull away it wouldn't let go of his finger. Only after a quick tug he managed to get his finger free.

"Whatever it is, it's corrosive to metal," Gretchen said looking inside one of the lockers. "It burned a hole in the back of the lockers. But it's safe to touch."

"It burns metal huh," Spinelli said thinking. "I'm on a roll 'cause I just came up with another idea. I say we put it on his new bike when he comes back for school."

"That wouldn't be right Spinelli," Mikey protested. "If we do that then we're no better than he is for starting all of this."

"This is the only thing that psychopath understands!" Someone shouted from the crowd. "I think we should do it!" Everyone spoke up in agreement. Since the decision was unanimous, the five leaders took the go from the walls and put it in a pile next to the school. Because someone had to guard it so it wouldn't be found by TJ, it was only fair for all of them to stay until he came back to school. Fortunately they had spent a lot of time there already and school was scheduled to open in thirty minutes.

~*~THIRTY MINUTE TIME LAPSE~*~

"He's here!" Gus said, waking up the sleeping members of his group. Shaking off their tiredness they looked over to where the bike racks were. Other students had already started to gather for the school day and TJ was looking is bike up at the racks. Once he was inside the school the gang each grabbed some of the green goo and headed to his bike. At first they struggled to get it off their hands but once they did his bike was covered in no time.

After making sure they used all of it, they walked into school, eager for the day to end and what they did to be discovered.

~*~IN CLASS~*~

TJ was confused. One by one his classmate came in and none of them showed a sign of the goo on them. Not on their clothes, hair or anything. Those slings must've gone off; he tested them three times to make sure of that. While he was staring at his desk thinking of things that might have gone wrong, he didn't notice the smug look on everyone's faces. This continued throughout the day. Once the end of the day arrived he walked outside, completely unaware that the students stayed behind just a little long so they could watch his reaction to his bike.

The all gathered around the bike rack as TJ approached his bike. The goo was now on the ground around his bike, and it looked like it was rusting in places. Not understanding what happened, he touched it gently with one finger and it fell of pieces right away. Kneeling down he examined the stuff on the ground and recognized it within seconds; it was the goo he put in the lockers this morning. Now it all made sense. Why his note was missing, why nobody had any of the gunk on them, it all made sense now. Someone must've found the note and did this after he put it in their lockers. And he was _furious._

This bike, his bike, had cost him a hefty $750 dollars of his own money. Not his parents money, _his_ money that he saved up. The sound of laugher filled his ears and it only and fuel to the fire that was his fury.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" He yelled. Everyone continued to laugh. Walking away from the crowd he came back with a baseball bat and starting hitting the other bikes that were chained up, denting them. "THIS BIKE COST ME 750 DOLLARS!" He yelled as he struck the bikes. When they saw what was happening everyone stopped laughing. "I'VE BEEN SAVING THAT MONEY SINCE I WAS SIX YEARS OLD! SOMEONE BETTER STEP FORWARD AND ADMIT WHAT THEY DID!" He stop swinging the bat for a moment to see if anyone would step out of the crowd. No one did and he continued to hit the other bikes only to stop after a few minutes. "I AM GOING TO MAKE THE REST OF THE YEAR A LIVING HELL FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!" With a toss of the bat and kick to one of the bikes TJ stomped away from the school with vengeance on his mind.

~*~*TEN MINUTES LATER~*~

TJ walked down the sidewalk, still angry at what happened at the end of school. That bike was very important to him, and everyone had to pay for what happened to it. Now it didn't even matter if the person of people admitted to what they done; everyone would still have to suffer in some way. Ideas were buzzing in his head for what he could do. So far, It was going to be massive, and it would take daya to plan. So it couldn't be done tomorrow; instead it would have to be done on Monday, maybe Friday if he hurried. But after years of experience he knew that he couldn't be angry while he worked on it; that's how he makes mistakes and mistakes were not an option this time.

Something bumping into his foot jogged him from his thoughts. Looking down he saw a dark brown bottle next to his foot. He picked it up and looked down the alley he was passing.

'Must've came from down here,' He thought. Taking a chance he walked down the ally and found a group of older kids wearing black hoddies at the end, each holding similar bottles.

"Is this yours?" TJ asked them, getting their attention.

"Yeah it is. Thanks," the one closest to him said. "You want it?"

"What is it?"

"It's fun in a bottle. Go ahead," The one closest to him reach over and opened it using a bottle opener to open it. "Try it."

"Dude, you can't give him beer," Another one protested. "We're gonna get in trouble!"

"No we won't. You're not gonna snitch are you kid?" TJ shock his head no. "See? He's not gonna tell. So are you gonna try it or just stand there and waste a perfectly good beer?" not thinking twice he took a large gulp of the liquid inside. At first it tasted nasty and he wanted to throw it away, but once it was down his throat and inside his stomach he took another sip, then another, and another, until it was all gone. "Like it?"

"Yeah," TJ said, tasting the aftertaste in his mouth. "Have any more?"

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger! Gawd I feel so evil :P<strong>

**I spent seven hours typing this chapter. I typed as a rode in the back of a car to Washington, D.C. for two hours (it helped a lot) and then I spend five more hours at my grandma's house. Thank god for boredom. Next update should be in…a week? Maybe. Since typing chapters take so long and I'm in college with and English Major (of all things) I have priorities. But my other chapters are shorter so they might be updated. **

**The good news is that in a little over two weeks I'll be out for a month for winter break and since I won't have homework (because when we come back we get new classes) this is all I'll have to do! So that means much more updates.**

**Donna nnov: Nothing much, just the key to their safety and sanity. :P At least for one day.**

**RandallXSpinelli:…..I don't want to give much away, but there is a lot more left before then! **

**Jasmine Ann Snape: I feel the same way! The movie did him a lot of justice compared to the cartoon.**

**Please Review!**


	4. Toxication

**I'm back! This chapter is kinda…..trippy. Like really trippy. But it's okay.**

**I'm breaking the fourth wall! And making a reference! I always wanted to do that and I finally get my chance. I'm not going to waste it.**

**I know I said that this chapter was going to come in about a week but I got bored again and started typing away (rather quickly I must say). So that translates into another update for you all. Not that you all mind.**

**Read on!**

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><p>Reaching his room, TJ found his bed to be extremely welcoming. Letting gravity take control he plopped down on his bed and covered his head with a pillow to stop his aching headache. The headache had come earlier, but he cured it with more of the liquid he tasted. It tasted nasty at first, but that didn't stop him from having another taste, and then another. By the end of the first bottle it actually tasted good. Soon it made him feel warm, then all the colors became more vivid, and he was flying. But he came crashing back down to earth after 90 minutes with a skull crushing headache. He wanted to feel the way he did before, so those older kids gave him another bottle. Because the sun was beginning to set, they set him home and told him to take only one sip to kill the headache and to wait until he got home to drink more. They also sent him home with and extra just in case.<p>

The walk home was single handedly the most excruciatingly painful experience of his life. Lights were blinding and burned at his eyes, honking horns threatened to make him deaf, and he lost his footing more than once (luckily he was on the sidewalk whenever he fell). Being outside had never been that painful. He had to walk slowly so he could see where he was going. After an hour he finally made his way home.

Since he was sure that the smell from the alley had rubbed off on him and his clothes he ran to his room as fast as he could so he wouldn't get caught. Now he lay in bed, and the skull crushing headache came back stronger than before ad the only cure for it was more beer. Reaching over to his backpack he pulled out the open bottle and took a large gulp of the contents inside. Almost instantly his headache was gone, and he was flying in the clouds again. Holding out his arms he saw clouds that weren't there, but they seemed real to him and he ran in circles thinking that he was flying. That didn't last long because he fell to the floor and giggled at himself. Standing back up he tried to walk across the room but tripped over his own feet while giggling. Everything was so funny, even the inanimate objects. Though there was nothing funny about the things in his room (dresser, desk, bed, and closet), through his eyes they all were making funny faces at him. So he laughed. But he soon grew tired and climbed back into his funny looking bed and closed his eyes, drifting into sleep.

~*~THE NEXT MORNING~*~

Opening his eyes TJ was greeted by the ungodly brightness of the rising sun coming from his window. He covered his eyes with his hands and forced himself out of bed and looked around for his backpack. He spotted it next to his desk and grabbed it, reaching for the brown bottle inside. With a 'pop' the top was twisted off and tossed across the room. Bringing the opening to his lips, TJ took another drink to subdue his headache. He set the bottle down on his desk and went into the bathroom to take a bath in an attempt to get the smell of beer off of him.

Twenty minutes later TJ emerged from the bathroom odor free. Instead of looking in his closet for clean clothes to wear he grabbed the cleanest smelling items on the floor and put them on. Looking at his clock he saw that he was up a little earlier than he usually would be. Instead of crawling back in bed for a little more sleep, he grabbed his bag, his bottle and headed out the door. Before school he needed to make a stop.

Ten minutes passed, and TJ found himself walking down the same alley as yesterday. last night was an indicator of how he would feel for the rest of the day and he need more of that stuff they gave him. If he had to go to school today, he was going to _flying._ Reaching the end of the alley he saw that the same older kids wearing the same black hoodies were there with the same dark brown glass bottles in their hands.

"Hey look," Said the person standing in the corner. "He's back."

"I was wonder if you guys had any more of that stuff," TJ slurred. "I get a headache when I don't drink it and I have to go to school."

"Dude, you're _**wasted**_," Said the one closet to him. "Of course you can have some more. Give me your bag." TJ watched as his bag was packed with six bottles before being handed back to him. "That should keep you for the rest of the day. And put these on," He handed the younger boy a pair of sunglasses. "That's to hide you bloodshot eyes. Now get out of here before someone notices!" Nodding, TJ ran back to the entrance to the alley, only stopping once he reached the sidewalk and walking his way to school.

~*~AT SCHOOL~*~

'Everything's just so _great.' _Sitting in class, TJ found himself smiling ear to ear for reasons that he could only understand. The words written on the chalkboards danced for him and everything seemed right in the world. Every few seconds he let out a light giggle that confused those sitting around him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class (and school) was on high alert. Not only were they threatened yesterday, but the person who delivered those threats was giving a disturbing smile. They thought that he was up to something big, and were careful to do everything they did. Lockers were opened with fear, doors created panic, and no one dared to play with the balls out on the playground. So far, nothing happened yet but they were still cautious.

The bell signaling the first recess rang and the kids headed towards the playground a little slower than usual, though none of them were slower that TJ who was stumbling over his own feet.

~*~MEANWHILE~*~

Trying to find something to do that didn't have the risk of bodily harm was very difficult for the remaining five members of the group. Not willing to get caught in any prank that could be strategically set up around the playground they, like everyone else, took the safe path and sat on the grass.

"Wish we knew what he was going to do," Spinelli mumbled. "That way we could be have fun. Like we're supposed to be during recess."

"Maybe we could ask him," Mikey said.

"Like he would actually tell us."

"It couldn't hurt to try," He said. "Beside he was acting really weird in class today. Maybe he'll have a lapse in judgment and let it slip out. What do you guys think?"

"It beats sitting here doing nothing," Vince said. The five of the stood up and walked over the area where TJ would always be when he was waiting for his pranks to happen: the side of the school next to the trash cans. Like they predicted he was there, sitting on the ground and staring off into nothingness.

"We know that this is a long shot," Mikey began. "But do you mind telling us what you have in store for the playground?"

"I hate this school," TJ answered in a slur. "I really do. And it's not even the actual school I hate. The _school_ is fine by itself. It's the kids *hiccup* the kids that drive me crazy. Like you guys for example," He paused to hiccup before continuing. "You guys drive me crazy. Like you Spinelli. Look, you're a girl. A GIRL, OKAY? FEMALE. No amount of fighting is going to change that. *hiccup* We can play doctor all day but you're still going to have the female anatomy. And how are you going to act tough *hiccup* act tough and wear your hair in pigtails? I never understood that. Pigtails are the most girly hairstyles there is.

"And I never could understand how Mikey could fit in the cheesebox. It doesn't *hiccup* doesn't make sense. That and how you fit in the vents. You should still be stuck in those vents Mikey. You obviously received a much higher amount of the Disney Magic than the rest of us. And Gretchen you seriously need to apply your genius towards fixing that overbite. 'nuff said. Gus, you're alright mostly. *hiccup* Just stop being such a little bitch and you'll be okay. And then there's _you, _Vince. You're such a *hiccup* such a stereotype. The only black guy in the group just so happens to be the most athletic. Not the smartest or cleverest but the most athletic of all things. That's kinda messed up if you think about it. It's fine if your good at sports and stuff but that doesn't mean it's not a stereotype. Nothing against you guys though *hiccup* you guys are cool for the most part."

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Spinelli yelled as she pulled him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Lemme go," He said, prying her fingers off his shirt before stumbling back. "I said I had problems with everyone *hiccup* everyone here. Like Gordy. Gordy is a hater. It's fine that the guy doesn't like me and everything, but he just had to go and be an ass and not give me a reason. If you're *hiccup* if you're going to not like someone you should have a reason. But he's a hater, and haters gonna hate. That's why he has no friends, the video game playing, loner freak.

"Then there's the Ashley's. God their so _fucking_ annoying. Little clones. That's why Ashley A and B are gonna have babies when they're sixteen, Ashley….the blue one is going to be broke before she's fifteen, and the green one…the green one doesn't actually say *hiccup* say anything so she's probably nice so she might be okay." Pausing, he turned around and went to his backpack, pulling out a bottle and opening it with a twist. "But that's if you all survive my *hiccup* survive my pranks." Turning back towards the others he started to have another drink, unaware of their shocked expressions.

"Is that _beer?"_ Gretchen cautiously asks him. He stopped drinking and looked at the label before answering her question.

"I guess it is," He said, giggling. "Anyways, King Bob was a dick—"

"How did you get that?" Gus asked.

"None of your business!" Before he knew it the bottle was snatched from his hand.

"Do you know what'll happen to you if Principal Prickly finds out!" Vince said, keeping the bottle out of his reach. Instead of answering he walked back over to his backpack and pulled out another bottle.

"I'm telling!" Yelled a voice. They all turned around and saw Randall peeking from around the corner before he ran off.

"You little snitch!" TJ shouted. "That's why you're dad has camel toe!" He opened the new bottle and brought his attention back to the others. "I don't see why you make Prickly out to be a bad person. He's a good guy really. *hiccup* Give the guy some slack. It's not like he's molesting us or anything. Stop your whining. He's just doing his job."

"DETWEILER!" A loud and angry voice brought their attention towards the playground. Ms. Finster was standing their blocking their way out. She looking more viscous "Is that alcohol in your hand?"

"Yes it is."

"What on earth are you doing with alcohol?" She shouted.

"Ms. Finster if I have to see your ugly face every day I_**need **_a drink,'' TJ tell her before bring the bottle back up to his lips. Next thing he knew he was being dragged away towards the principal's office. He dragged his feet while continue to swallow the concoction. It was pulled out of his hands just outside of the door to his destination. After a brief pause he was pulled into the office and dragged to the desk where a very frustrated looking Principal Prickly sat.

"What did he do now," Asked the principal. No words were spoken as Ms. Finster sat the bottle on his desk. "Okay. You can go now, Ms. Finster." As she left, Principal Prickly rubbed his forehead out of pure frustration. "What are you doing with beer Detweiler? Don't you know that drinking is bad for your health? Not to mention illegal for your age!"

"It's not as big deal," The younger slurred. "You're over *hiccup* overreacting, sir."

"And you're drunk," He said with a grimace. "Go lay on the couch and try to sleep it off."

"If I go to sleep I'm going to have a headache when I wake up," TJ as he made is way to the couch.

"Well that's your own fault for drinking. I thought you knew better than this."

"Apparently not," he said lying down. When he placed his head on the cushion of the mattress it only took a few breaths to fall asleep.

~*~TIME LAPSE :P~*~

"Oh God, my head…."

Curling up into a ball, TJ made an attempt to block out all light a noise that caused him pain. Why was everything brighter and louder for the sole purpose of making him miserable? He tried desperately to go back to sleep, but found out it was an impossible task. As he became aware of his surroundings see could see the curtains were down, blocking most of the light from outside. He also felt something covering him that wasn't there when he fell asleep: a jacket, rather large one that didn't belong to him. Looking it over he recognized it as the one Prickly wore. Still, all of this did not completely ease his pain.

A small amount of relief came when he felt something cold being placed on his forehead. Forcing himself to open his eyes he saw Principal Prickly holding a bag of ice on his head.

"Take this," He said. "It'll help."

"Thanks," Said TJ taking the bag. "I feel like I got hit by a truck that got hit by another truck before hitting my head—" He stopped and held his hand over his mouth as he felt the contents of his stomach coming up his throat. Looking around he saw a wastebasket next to the couch, grabbed it and threw up inside. "I feel awful…."

"It's called a hangover," Said the Principal. "If you didn't want to feel this way you shouldn't have had beer. The only way to cure it is bear through it."

"I fix it by drinking more. It always works."

"That only makes it worse! Where did you get it anyways?"

"I found it," TJ told him. "Can we talk about this later? The room is spinning and I don't know which way up."

"No, we're going to talk about this now so you can remember it," He said. "Of all the things you could be doing, it's drinking! Do you know how bad that is or your health? You're only 13 years old! I would rather have you out there terrorizing the school than doing this!"

"Okay I get it," TJ mumbled, holding the bag of ice on his forehead. "I'm gonna hear this from my parents aren't I? Have you called them yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm about to. They need to come and take you home. Any punishment they give you for this will be much harsher that anything I can give."

"I don't wanna go home," He said rolling over.

"Why not?"

"I hate it there," said TJ. "I wanna stay here."

"Nothing bad is happening at home is it?"

"Everything's fine. I just don't want go home. I like in here better."

"Well you spend more time in here than you do in class," Said the principal as he sat at his desk. "Go ahead a lay back down. School isn't over for two more hours." Sending him a smile of appreciation, TJ laid back down on the couch and fell asleep. Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, he was being woken up again.

His headache was starting to fade away, and he slept an hour long than he had expected. To his surprise Prickly offered him a ride home which he gladly accepted; he still felt a little too weak to walked his way home and even though he knew that Prickly was doing to tell his parents what he had done, the car ride was worth it.

"Principal Prickly," TJ started as he stared out the car window. "Do have any kids?"

"I had a son," The Principal said. "But there was an accident, and he's not with us anymore."

"….sorry…"

"It's okay. That was a really long time ago, and I've come to terms with it."

"Have you ever had any more kids?"

"Yeah, but…..we never got around to it. The loss still hurt. So he was our only child."

"I think you'd make a good father."

"Thanks," he said pulling up to his students house. "But I'm still telling your parents about what you did."

The two of them got out of the car and made their way to the front door. After going inside, TJ's parents came out and had a brief conversation with his principal before saying thank you and going back inside to have a very long conversation with their son.

TJ spent two hours listening to his parents tell him how disappointed they were and how much trouble he was in. He zoned in and out of the conversation due to his haze from the alcohol fading away. After the talk was done he sent to his room, now grounded until his parents felt he learned his lesson.

Now that his head was clear and he was able to think straight again he remembered what was most important; revenge on the entire playground. Pushing all the junk of his desk he grabbed a sheet of paper and began to work on the mother of all pranks.

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><p><strong>This chapter's kind of uneventful isn't it? Don't worry, a lot more will happen next chapter.<strong>

**I kept get distracted from typing his because I'm watch Hey Arnold and I haven't seen it since 2003 and it's making me so happy. 90's shows for the win!**

**Donna Nnov: A lot of improbable stuff happens in Recess. Like that one episode when Ms. Finster and Hank get together and when she see the playground without her there's a helicopter dropping bombs on the playground in the background. That actually made me laugh pretty hard, but still. Sorry, you have to wait until the next chapter for his 'masterpiece.'**

**Jasmine Ann Snape: I think I answered your question in the chapter :P Thanks for reviewing!**

**Please Review!**


	5. Day Damn One

**I've been waiting to do this chapter! I'm so excited and a little terrified at the same time.**

**There is one part in here that the point of view changes back and forth really fast, but I tried to make it so it's not that confusing. There's also another reference! Can you spot it? (I'm sure you can!). It's vague but it's definitely there.**

**Um I don't know if you guys are experiencing this too but people around where I live are starting to say 'osh cosh magosh' in place of 'oh my god' or 'oh my gosh' and it came out of nowhere. I personally don't say it but I think it's hilarious. :D Weird though.**

**Read on!**

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><p>Patting the now filled hole with a shovel, TJ gave himself a well-deserved pat on the back. Shoveling was hard work after all. Especially at three in the morning when he should be sleeping (or in his room for that matter). Luckily, the digging wasn't as hard as he had anticipated; the dirt was already lose from the diggers digging and he spent half as much time working on that as he thought it would.<p>

It had taken him two days to come up with his current prank, and now that it was Monday, he was ready to set it off. But he couldn't hurry because everything just had to be perfect. Fortunately for him, being ground helped him focus on every aspect of it. Since he couldn't go outside the house for the weekend, and what he needed required him to go halfway across time, that meant he had to sneak out in the middle of the night, something he became quite good at.

Hiding the shovel, TJ moved on to another part of his plan and grabbed a brown box he sat next to the school. Looking around the playground he spotted the Ashley's clubhouse and started to climb to the top of the tires. Using a rope he lowered the box through the opening at the top of the clubhouse and made sure that it was in the middle for maximum effect. Using duct tape he taped the wires coming from the box against the wall of the clubhouse. He always hated the fact that those stuck-up little rich girls being able to have a clubhouse on the playground, and this was just another way to get back at them for it. It was part of the plan too, but mostly as a highlight.

Climbing off the clubhouse, TJ thought about how much trouble he could possibly get in for doing something this big. There was the threat of being expelled, sent to boot camp, and being hated by the entire playground. And a few months ago all of these would've been very big deals.

'But they destroyed my bike,' He thought. 'They deserve this, and any punishment I get for this will be worth it. It's not like I plan on going along with their punishments anyways….."

Having already picked the lock to the school doors, he made his way to the room behind the big clock where ten metal boxes where sitting. One side of each of the box had a rope tied to the top and when pulled, the side would go up releasing the little creatures inside. That wouldn't happen for at least another five hours, but the prospect of what will happen when it does made TJ smile. He double checked the knots in the rope to make sure he didn't miss anything and once that was all clear he moved to the schools roof where he had set up five NYE Block Buster fireworks (M-100's) taped to sticks with the wick facing the ground. He placed them an equal distance apart against the roof of the school facing the sky. Once they were in position he tape a hand sized cylinder container to each of the fireworks. If things went according to plan, the contents inside would be spread to everyone below when the fireworks go off.

"Finally," TJ said in exhaustion. "I think that's it…." He reached in his pocket and took out a list of things to do while he was out and went over it. Everything was crossed off except for one. "I can't do that until school starts. Besides that I'm finished…..time for bed…" With a yawn he headed for the exit, but he had to throw away the boxes he used to bring his materials in. Walking away from the garbage cans he tripped over something on the ground. Looking down he saw that it was his backpack.

"Oh yeah," TJ mumbled. "I left it here yesterday." He picked the bag up and looked inside. He smiled at the sight of the untouched beer bottles inside. He took the bag with him as he left, but before he walked down the street towards his house he paused and thought about what he was doing.

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

"_No, we're going to talk about this now so you can remember it," Principal Prickly said. "Of all the things you could be doing, it's drinking! Do you know how bad that is or your health? You're only 13 years old!"_

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

'He said it was bad for me,' TJ said to himself. 'Maybe I should just throw it away. I dunno. I'll keep it just in case...' Closing his bag he continued his way home.

**~*~TIME LAPSE~*~**

Making their way to class the reminding five members of the group now felt safe to go about their day as they normally would. Since the rest of last week was free of any pranks taking place, TJ's threat was called a bluff and no one walked around in fear of opening their lockers, desk, or playing with the equipment on the playground. Still, there those who said that just because he didn't do anything yet that it didn't mean nothing was going to happen at all. Those people were promptly called paranoid and crazy. One of the people being called paranoid and crazy was Gus.

"I Just don't think he would give up this easily," Gus said to the others was they all walked to class. "It just that when he make a promise he would always keep it and I don't think this is any different."

"Gus you're overreacting," Vince told him. "He does pranks every day. He's never missed a day since he started. And he hasn't done anything since last Monday."

"But what if he's planning something big?" Gus asked.

"Will you stop worrying?" Spinelli asked him. "Nothing's going to happen."

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"Okay so remember, don't go out there until I blow the whistle, got it?"

While the other students were inside beginning their lessons, TJ was outside the kindergartener's pen, and ac that would be considered absolutely dangerous in the eyes off everyone else. But after offering the rowdy children candy in exchange for their help calmed them down rather fast. Besides he needed there help.

Since they all were so hyper and full of energy (not to mention innocent) they were perfect for the job. As soon as they came in for school he went over to their den and used the candy to calm them down then proceeded to hand out the materials.

"Don't go out there until I blow the whistle okay?" He said again. The current leader of the kindergarteners, King Gooey, quickly nodded.

"We go playground goes boom?" Asked the kindergartener.

"Playground goes boom," TJ said as he stood up. "Big boom. Just wait until I blow the whistle." With that he left the kindergarteners and headed to his next destination: the roof. It was only the beginning of the school day he still had to set up one more thing. It wasn't going to take long; he had set up slingshots before. After that it was a waiting game.

Once he reached the roof he took of the sunglasses he received from the older kids in the back alley last week and focused on the task at hand. It was going to be perfect; no one was going to forget about what was going to happen today. And afterwards they would never do anything to him or his property again. Sure he might get in the biggest trouble a kid has ever been in, but hey, those guys needed to be taught a lesson. Pulling the sling back he made sure that it worked and once he was sure, he placed the ammo next to it. He looked his watch and saw that now there was only ten minutes until the first recess and he needed to be in position.

**~*~FIVE MINUTES LATER~*~**

Making sure that it was five minutes before recess TJ pulled the rope that was attached to five of the metal boxes allowing the creatures inside free to roam the school. They moved fast from the sound of it. Not wanting to step on any of them, TJ stayed on top of the metal boxes until the sound of the feet moving across the wooden floor. When the sound was gone, he jumped to the next box and pulled the side up, letting the creatures inside crawl free. They moved fast and soon they were out and moving throughout the school.

**~*~IN THE CLASSROOM~*~**

"Maybe I'm worrying too much about this," Gus thought to himself as he tried to pay attention to the teachers lecture. "The guys are right. Nothing's going to happen—" His thoughts were interrupted by the scream of Ashley A.

"EWW! RATS!" She screamed, pointing at the door. The rest of the class turned to the door and saw rats crawling into the room from the space at the bottom of the door. They came in fast, and there was no telling how many there were. Rat jumped on students who jumped on their desks to avoid them. They screamed and heard the screams coming from the other classrooms as they experienced the same surprise. Soon there were not only rats coming into the room; they were joined by very large African cockroaches (those things are fucking huge) pouring in. The screamed and shrieks became louder as the pests crawled all over the kids. The bell for recess rang and they all wasted no time trying to escape the madness. However, when they reached the hallways, the madness only continued at the sight and smell of the skunks. Keeping their noses and mouths covered the forced their way through onto the playground.

**~*~ON THE ROOF~*~**

Standing on the roof, TJ watched as the entire student body rushed out onto the playground for some relief. That wouldn't be happening anytime soon on his watch. But he gave them a few moments of peace before reaching for the whistle around his neck. Ne kneeled down so those on the playground couldn't see him and with one breath he blew the whistle. Down below the kids looked around in confusion, but then heard the screams of the kindergarteners approaching.

**~*~ON THE PLAYGROUND~*~**

"OUCH!" Gus yelled after something small and hard hit his cheek. Touching the spot where he was hit he felt something sticky.

"What is it, Gus?" Mikey asked him. Gus looked at his fingers and saw that whatever had hit him left green paint on his face.

"It's paint…." Gus said. Almost immediately small object were zipping past their heads, some hitting them hard and leaving marks in different colors. Turning around they saw the kindergartener's running out of their pen and towards them carrying and shooting fully loaded paintball guns.

**~*~ON THE ROOF~*~**

"Those kindergartener's listen really well," TJ said out loud, watching the scene unfold below. Kids were screaming trying to escape the assault from mini terrors. Some tried to go back inside, but after he blew the whistle he ran down and locked the doors from the inside. Other tried to climb the fence to escape, but were only given and electrical shock. No one was going to get away from this ad he was going to be sure of it. How good could a prank possibly be if people can get away from it?

Next he walked over to the NYE Block Buster's fireworks and pulled a lighter out of his pocket and began to set them off. As they flew into the sky he pulled out a small controller with a bright red button in the middle. He pressed it, and one-by-one, the holes on the playground exploded, sending dirt and debris everywhere, confusing the students. The last and largest thing to explode was the Ashley's clubhouse, and a black mushroom cloud was forming over the top. At the same time the fireworks exploded, making more paint rain from the skies. As the situation escaladed, TJ loaded the slingshot with a massive amount of glue. This was going to be the icing on the cake. He pulled the lever and the glue was sent flying, landing on the unlucky souls that happened to be in its path. Now that everything was launched and everyone was running for their lives, he looked over the edge at the warzone below.

And he couldn't help but laugh.

**~*~TIME LAPSE~*~**

"$5,000 for professional exterminators, $7,000 for professional cleaners, $6,000 to get the paint and glue off of the students, $1,000 to replace the Ashley's clubhouse, a $2,000 fee for disturbing the peace, a $500 medical bill for a kid how broke an arm, $1,000 for a kid who broke his legs," Principal Prickly listed from the paper he held in his hand. "Why do you hate me Detweiler? What did I ever do to you? Did do something in a former life to enrage you and this is your revenge?"

"On the contrary sir, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you," TJ said. "Any guy who doesn't quit with me as a student deserves to be respected."

"Damn right he does," The Principal mumbled. "Why do you insist on doing these things? It looks like a warzone out there!"

"It wasn't my fault, sir. Some kids broke my bike," He explained. "This is just me getting back at them for it."

"SO YOU DESTROY THE PLAYGROUND OVER A BIKE?"

"Not just any bike. A Roadrunner 360 v.6."

"I was cursed," Prickly said, resting his head in his hands. "I should've known from the long line of terrorized principals I come from! You know Superintendent Skinner?" he rambled. "He's from out of state, and he used to be a principal. He had a little hell raiser at his school too! And the Principal before that and before that!"

"It's not like you have to pay those bills," Said TJ interrupting Prickly's rant. "The school district does."

"But they're going to be down MY throat for this!"

"It's not like they're going to fire you. No sane person will want to be the new principal with me still here."

"…you're right. No one's going to want to take my position…."

"I thought about that when planning all this. You're safe. Mostly."

"You know what Detweiler," Principal Prickly said going through the students files. "I'm very tempted to expel you." He sat a six inch yellow folder on his desk labeled with TJ's name.

"But then you'll only have to deal with me again when I come back next year," TJ said with a smile.

"That's right. So I'm going to let your parents punish you," Said Principal Prickly. He got out of his seat and walked over to the door to his office.

"THEODORE JASPER DETWEILER YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" TJ cringed at the sound of his mother's furious voice.

**~*~AT HOME~*~**

"Explosives, Paint guns and rats! Where did you even get these things?"

When he arrived home after a very long and quiet car ride, TJ sat on the couch listening to his parents and like always he wasn't paying very much attention. Since he knew that this would lead to him getting grounded and being stuck in his room with nothing to do but homework (he scoffed at that) and creating plans, he welcomed the 'punishment.' More time for him to figure out what he was going to do for next week.

While TJ didn't see his parents as much of a threat, his parents were at their wits end. No amount of discipline seemed to be working and he was getting worse every day. His quick and massive change in behavior came out of nowhere and caught them off guard. Before he was a pretty easy kid to handle that needed little punishment at all and now he was a regular juvenile delinquent and they had no idea as to why. With his latest so called 'prank' they were beginning to look at the idea of sending him to a Boot Camp or a Behavioral Modification Camp to help him straighten up, but that was set aside as a last resort.

"So am I in trouble or what?" TJ asked his parents.

"Of course you're in trouble!" His father told him. "Give me your hat!"

"What?"

"Give me your hat!" His father repeated. "If being grounded won't get you to behave then maybe taking away the most valuable thing to you will!"

"You can't do that!" TJ protested.

"Yes I can!" Said Mr. Detweiler said snatching the cap off of his sons head. "Until you get your act together you can forget about wearing this!" Having his hat taken off of head angered TJ and out of that anger he pushed his father and began to throw punches. Grabbing his son, Mr. Deweiler dragged him upstairs and put him in his room to let him calm down.

"You can't do this to me!" TJ yelled as he kicked his door. How dare they take his hat! Is more beloved item! They were way out of line! Grabbing the rope under his bed he tied one end to his bed, tossed the other end out of the window, and began to climb out of his room.

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

Principal Prickly had a very long and excruciating day. After the whole fiasco earlier he had to face the wrath of the school board for having such a misbehaving student that cost them so much money; though they did show some mercy considering who the misbehaving student _was _and having faced him themselves. After been chewed up and spit out he looked forward to sitting back in his favorite chair and having a stiff drink. But fate didn't have that planned for him.

After putting his things down and grabbing two well-deserved glasses of whiskey he headed towards the living room where he had an unwanted visitor sitting in his favorite seat eating a bowl of ice cream.

"Hey Pete," TJ said with a smile. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing here, Detweiler?" Asked the Principal, not bothering to hide is frustration with the child. "_How _did you get in my house?"

"You left the window open," Said TJ. "I was going to wait outside but the window was open so I came in."

"I can have you arrested for breaking and entering," Prickly threated.

"Nah, you won't do that! I'm your favorite student!"

"I don't know where you got that idea. Why aren't you at home getting punished?"

"See what had happened was my hat was taken away and I was locked in my room," He said. "Then I remembered that there was this Senior Fusion marathon on and I wanted to watch it so I snuck out and came over here. Wanna watch?" Having gone through hell and back the stressed Principal went with the simplest answer there was.

"Get out of that seat Detweiler! It's mine."

**~*~TEN MINUTES LATER~*~**

"I can't remember the last time I watched this show," Said Prickly after finishing off his last drink. "God I miss it."

"Principal Prickly do you think I'm a bad kid?" TJ asked from his spot on the floor.

"No," Said the Principal. "I don't think you're a bad kid. Sure you're acting bad right now, but somewhere in that head of yours there's the good side of you. You're just going through a phase. I'm hoping it'll be over before you do anything else like today."

"A phase?"

"That's right. What you're doing seems like fun to you now but eventually it's going to become boring and you'll move on to something else. Hopefully something constructive and doesn't leave the school in shambles."

"I think my parents think I'm a bad kid," He said.

"That's because they're upset with your behavior like the rest of us. Why are you acting like this, Detweiler? It isn't like you."

"I dunno," TJ said. "It's fun I guess."

"It's fun to turn the school into a warzone?" Asked Principal Prickly. TJ nodded. A less than awkward silence fell in the room as the commercials ended and the show came back on. "I have two nephews three years older than you," He began. "They were little horrors. Never listened to their parents and did awful things to people just for the fun of it. You know where they are now?"

"Boot camp?"

"Jail," Principal Prickly said. "They decided it was fun to bully little kids and one of those kids died from it. So they're in jail for the rest of their lives. I don't want that to see that happen to you."

"Don't worry" Said TJ finishing of his ice cream. "I'm not going to do anything _that_ bad."

"If you do I'm expelling you," He said. "You're putting the other student's well-being at risk. No more big pranks?"

"….no more big pranks," TJ mumbled.

"Good. Now you get home before your parents notice you're missing."

* * *

><p><strong>RandallXSpinelli: I thought that was you! And I was right. I always wondered if Prickly had any kids 'cause they don't mention it in the series even though that would've made a pretty good episode. It seems to me that he would have at least one kid. You're right; it is going to be important later on. How? You'll just have to wait and see.<strong>

**Donna nnov: Thanks! :) It needed to be said. I kinds used him being drunk to voice my own opinions about characters in the show when I was having a really bad day and trying to write a chapter for another fic. **

**Hahasux4u: Yes it is! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Now I have a question for you all and I would like some feedback. I need a name for Prickly's son. Something that says serious but playful at the same time. Middle names too.**

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	6. Power

**I'M FREE! FREE! NO MORE SCHOOL FOR A MONTH! I LOVE COLLEGE! :D**

**Last chapter was a big one wasn't it? I didn't plan for it to be that long but that's how it turned out to be. **

**I would like to thank my reviewers for the feedback I received for the last chapter and the name I've chosen is…..in the chapter: D. So there's that to look forward to. Lastly, if I didn't state it in the last chapter, the last chapter took place on a Monday and this chapter takes place on the following Friday for reasons stated in the chapter. I also made Gordy king. Hope that doesn't offend anyone.**

**Read on!**

* * *

><p>Since his massive change in character, TJ didn't bother to take promises as seriously as he once did. Now promises seemed like a hindrance that held him back from doing what he <em>really<em> wanted to do. And he wanted to do what he wanted to do when and how he wanted to do it, making promises impossibility. Moreover, he felt that he kept enough promises for a few years and he deserved a break.

So he couldn't quite understand why he didn't feel the need to continue his revenge on the playground. He still wanted to do it; who wouldn't after having their beloved bike (which cost him $750 at that) destroyed? They deserved to be punished through his most well-conceived pranks. Their actions were beginning to bring out the worst in him. But he couldn't bring himself to come up with anything else. It was as if his motivation had disappeared.

He had plenty of time; after the last fiasco he was suspended from school for the rest of the week. He also had the skill and that goes without saying. Still, nothing was written down in the aspect of causing horror and instilling fear on all the kids at Third Street. That didn't include the kindergarteners however, because they helped him, and he considered them to be innocent. Plus, what would it look like if his bullied a bunch of little kids?

In an attempt to clear his mind and give himself a fresh start, TJ found himself sneaking out of the house through his window, breaking into Principal Prickly's house (though it could exactly be called _breaking_ in when he just climbed through an open window), and waiting for him to come home. The first two days he started to do this he was told to go home before his parents were called. But after having a few very long conversations with his principal, he became almost an expected presence in the house and the threat of calling his parents faded; something he appreciated because he didn't feel like a was exactly wanted in his own home.

While TJ treated his house like a second home, Prickly was wondering why the boy felt the need to pry into his personal life all of a sudden. He knew that it would be best if he called the boy's parents to come and get him and that if he didn't he could easily be charged with kidnapping, but he still didn't do it. Soon his guest was staying over until it got dark outside. It wasn't like they were doing anything special in his eyes. Only talking about random topics and watching old cartoons that they both liked. They even tossed a ball back and forth in the backyard once. But it was nothing he thought the child couldn't do with his own friends. Then he remembered that after his behavior changed Detweiler didn't have his friends to go to.

Then once Thursday rolled around the two of them had a conversation that changed his view of his student.

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

"You know Detweiler," Principal Prickly said as he and TJ sat in the living watching the Senior Fusion Movie on television. "Most kids hang out with their friends, not their principal."

"I'm not really friends with those guy's anymore," TJ said looking at the floor.

"Maybe if you stopped doing what you're doing now and apologized they would take you back," He said. "It's not impossible."

"I think it is. All my pranks included them as victims and every time I look at them they seem really angry at me," Said TJ. "But it's okay 'cause you're my friend."

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

After that brief conversation something dawned on the principal: this kid was starting to look up to him and if that was true then maybe that was all he really needed. Perhaps all the discipline and punishments bestowed upon the student didn't work because he didn't _need_ to be punished, just someone to look up to, a role model. That and a smack across the head once in a while.

Prickly's theory was backed but by him not seeing any sign of his student coming up with any plans for the school. Normally he would be able to tell if TJ was coming up with something by the way he was talking and acting but he hasn't seen any of that lately. Then again he could've already come up with something and was just sitting back, waiting for Monday. Until then, Prickly took a mental note to keep an eye on him. In the meantime he was focusing on not looking like an old man as he the boy tossed a Frisbee in his backyard.

"Hey, where's your wife?" TJ asked as caught the flying disk. "I've been over here for five days and I haven't seen her. Does she work late or something?"

"I wouldn't know," said Principal Prickly. "We're divorced."

"That would explain it," Mumbled TJ. "So um, what was your son's name?"

"That is none of your concern," Said the Principal. "You don't need to know that."

"Just asking," TJ said. "I wanna know." As silence settled in between them TJ tossed the Frisbee back across the yard. It didn't make it because halfway there a wind came by a lifted the disk up into the air where it landed in a birds nest near the top of the tree standing in the backyard. "That wasn't my fault."

"It's alright. I'll get a ladder from the garage…."

"You don't need to get a ladder," Said TJ."I can just climb the tree and get it." Not waiting for a response he grabbed the closet branch and began to ascend the tree.

"Get down from there, Detweiler," Principal Prickly said. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Do too! I'm a kid, and kids climb trees," he said as he continued to climb. Setting his foot on a branch he slipped and almost fell but grabbed another branch to stop that from happening. Far from being deterred, TJ still kept climbing.

"Get out of that tree right now!"

"C'mon, I'm so close to it," He said reaching for the bird's nest that the Frisbee was in. As he reached he almost lost his footing again, slipping but managed to grab onto another sturdier branch. J saw this as a minor setback to getting the disc, while Principal Prickly saw it differently.

"ZACKARY DAVID YOU GET OUT OF THAT TREE RIGHT NOW!" Prickly yelled.

"Zackary?" TJ asked, grabbing the Frisbee. "Who's that?"

"Nothing," The Principal sighed. "Just get out of that tree before you fall." With that he walked back inside the house, leaving TJ by himself. Sensing the seriousness in his voice he quickly but carefully TJ made his way down, Frisbee in hand. He left the plastic disc on the ground and walked through the backdoor of the house and made his way to the living room where Principal Prickly was sitting on the couch. He sat down next to him unsure of what to say.

"Zackary David," The Principal said staring straight ahead.

"Huh?"

"That was is name. Zackary David," Prickly said. "Zackary David Prickly."

"Oh," TJ mumbled. "But why did you call me Zackary out there?"

"The accident," Prickly said just above a whisper. "We were playing outside, and I swear I only had my eyes off of him for a second. I turn back around and he's at the top of the tree. And he slipped and fell twenty feet. He hit the ground head first. Then you climb the tree and I was taken back to that day."

"Sorry about that," TJ apologized. "Should I go?"

"Nah, it's not your fault," He said. "But yeah, I think you should go home." Nodding, TJ headed to the door. "You better not have anything planned for Monday!"

**~*~AT HOME~*~**

"Where have you been?" TJ heard his mother asked him only second after he came through the front door. Due to a lapse in judgment he forgot to lock his bedroom door when he snuck out and when he came home to climb back up the rope that was tied to the bed post and hung outside the window he saw that it wasn't there. He couldn't get back into the house any other way than to go through the front door and he knew as soon as he would come in his parents were going to be down his throat about where he was.

"Out," He said, heading for the stairs and walking past her unfazed by the tone of her voice. He heard her as she continued to ask him questions and scolded him for sneaking out. Reaching his room he closed his door shut and locked the door to keep his parents out. Grabbing a bottle from his backpack and the CD player and headphones that sat on his dresser under a pile of papers he laid down in bed, taking a long drink and while listening to music.

**~*~THE NEXT DAY~*~**

The next morning as he walked to school TJ was trying to recover after getting the third degree from his parents. All morning they insisted on following him around as he tried to get ready for school, aggravating his headache he received from drinking the night before. Instead of snapping at them like he wanted to do oh-so badly, he stayed quiet to avoid making the confrontation any worse than it already was. Taking a mental note to make a stop in the alley, he was finally let go to go to school.

Rubbing his forehead he turned down the alley he was so familiar with. He reached the end and, like the other two times, the older kids wearing the black hoodies were there.

"Haven't seen you in a long time," Said the one closet to him. "Need some more stuff, huh?" TJ nodded. "Sorry, we don't have any. Drinking's out," he said bringing a stuffed rolled up piece of paper to his lips. "Smoking's in. Wanna try?"

"Aw, c'mon dude!" Another one yelled. "We spent all day rolling these! You can't just give them away to some kid!"

"Relax; we made enough to last us for forever. We can spare some. Well, do you want it?" He asked, holding out and unlit roll. "I'll make you feel the same as before."

"Really?" TJ asked, looking at what was in his hand. "Okay, I'll take it." He reached out and grabbed the three stick in the older boys hands.

"Here, you'll need this," He said, pulling out a lighter and handing it to him. "It's just like a cigarette." Flicking the lighter on, TJ lit on end and as the older boy said, treated it like a cigarette. Within seconds he felt what he did with the alcohol would've taken ten times as long to feel, and it was better too. With another long drag the entire stick was used and he tried to keep his balance. Cautiously, he made his way out of the alley and started to walk towards the school.

**~*~AT SCHOOL~*~**

'Has the sky always been this blue?'

Walking up the path to the school, TJ was wonder why everything was, and was currently wondering why the sky was the particular shade of blue that it was at the moment. Normally he wouldn't be thinking about such ridiculous things, but he was sure it was the result of whatever he smoked. He didn't know how long he would feel the way he did, which was in his own words, fantastic, but he wanted it to last as long as it possibly could.

"There he is!" Turning around, TJ couldn't react fast enough to avoid the small crowd of students coming after him. After a few seconds of struggling, he was being dragged onto the playground and was on top of the jungle gym tossed in front of Kind Gordy sitting on his throne.

"Why am I here?" TJ drowsily asked getting onto his feet. "Wait, I bet you're pissed about last Monday….."

"Oh well gee what was your first clue?" Gordy snapped at him. "Most of us had to get our hair cut to get the paint and glue out!"

"Really?" TJ turned around and looked at the kids below. Although his vision was blurry he could see the bald patches and cut hair of those on the ground. "That sucks. Like that _really_ sucks."

"Is that all you have to say?" Gordy yelled.

"Gordy," TJ said, rubbing his eyes. "Stop yelling okay? It's 7:15 in the morning, Christ…."

"I'll yell if I want to!" He yelled again. "I demand you tell us what you're going to do next!"

"Well I was planning on walking away 'cause your wasting my time—"

"I'M SERIOUS," Screamed Gordy. "We are not going to suffer through any of your pranks anymore! You are going to tell us what you have planned or we're taking you to the dodge ball wall for every recess until you reach 7th grade!"

"Gordy," TJ said calmly. "W-Why are you hating? It's not good for you. You're not going to send me to the dodge ball wall okay? You're not. It wouldn't even hurt 'cause I have balls of steel. Remember Mr. E? I was the only one who stood up to him while the rest of you coward in fear. And I either had to be crazy of have balls of steel. I was already a little crazy so I must have balls of steel. You're not going to do anything Gordy, go back to playing Pac-man like you always do, you little video game playing, freckled faced, no friends, loner, hatin' bitch."

"You're pushing it, Detweiler," Gordy warned him. "Tell us right now!"

"Why are you even King?" TJ asked in a daze. "You suck. You really suck. You didn't even talk to anyone before you became king. What was the question? What I was going to do next? I dunno, I haven't been able to think of anything."

"Like we're supposed to believe that!"

"No, really hater. I don't have anything," TJ told him. "But since you keep threatening me maybe I should do something, like set the school on fire just to shut you up."

"Take him to the dodge ball wall!" Gordy ordered. TJ was grabbed by the arms and taken down of the jungle gym to be dragged over to the dodge ball wall.

**~*~LATER~*~**

As he wiped the blood from his nose in the boy's bathroom, TJ noticed that the effect of whatever he had used in the alley began to wear off. It luckily lased throughout his beating, lessening the pain he would've felt, but now he was left to deal with the bruises, scratches, and scrapes he received as a result. But those could wait, because revenge was on his mind. Scratching his head (his hat had been knocked of his head during the pummeling and he didn't think to find it) he tried to come up with something up quick. It had absolutely had to be today.

'It needs to shock them back into their place,' He thought, looking at himself in the mirror. 'They need to learn not to mess with me ever again.' He pulled out the lighter from his pocket flicked it on showing the flame. It was everything he wanted to do to the student body; strong, powerful, fear and respect inducing to those who saw it. Smiling, he put it away as an idea came to mind. He left the restroom to put it all together.

**~*~AT RECESS~*~**

Like for most of the week before after TJ was suspended, the kids of the school played free of any worry that something would happen to harm them. Kids played tetherball, swung on the swings, climbed the jungle gym, played tag, and did other things to relieve the stress they felt from being in what the adults called school but they called prison. This was cut short by a blood curdling scream being heard across the playground. They all turned to the source of the scream which seemed to come from the school, but they saw nothing. That was until they looked at the roof. Standing on the roof was TJ, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world, but he wasn't the source of the screaming.

It was the kindergartener he was holding over the edge of the roof by the leg.

The little child screamed in fear and was being to be let go by her captor as the students below gathered and looked on in horror.

"This is what happens when you all decide to fuck with me," He yelled over the playground. "This is what happens when you all decide that I'm someone to be messed with! People get hurt!"

"PUT HER DOWN!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"YOU'RE A PSYCHOPATH, DETWEILER!"

As he listened to the screams for him to let the little girl go, TJ smiled and waited. He looked over the edge for any faculty member to come out of the school and make an attempt to stop him. Son enough, Principal Prickly and Ms. Finster was on the scene to see what was causing all the commotion.

"What the hell are you doing Detweiler!" Ms. Finster screamed at the top of her lungs. "You put that child down RIGHT NOW!"

"Down?" TJ asked with a smile. "_Down?_ I'll put her down, but I'm pretty sure a fall from this height would kill her. But if that's what you want…" He began to loosen his grip on the kindergartener but was stopped by another voice.

"You know what she means!" Principal Prickly yelled at him. "You put that child on the roof before we call the police!"

"If you call the police I'll drop her before they get here."

"NOW, DETWEILER!"

"Okay, okay. Gee, don't get you toupee in a knot…" Slowly he brought the smaller child back over to the roof and set her down on her feet. The moment she was safe she ran back into the school before any more harm could be done. He let her run for a few minutes before he made his way back into the school as well. Walking down the hallway he looked around for anyone who might be there. Seeing that the halls were empty he turned the corner and continued to walk. Halfway down the hall he bumped into something and landed on the floor. Looking up he saw a very enraged Prickly glaring down at him.

"Hey, Prickly," TJ said with a nervous smile. "What's going on?" Without an answer he was grabbed by the arm of his jacket and pulled down the hall to the principal's office.

**~*~TEN MINUTES LATER~*~**

"What the hell is wrong with you, Detweiler? You could've killed that girl!" Prickly yelled from his seat.

"I wasn't planning on dropping her," TJ calmly said. "I was bluffing."

"That doesn't matter!" Said Principal Prickly. "You held her over the edge of a two-story building! Do you realize what you did?"

"I hung her over the edge of the school," TJ said. "What's there to get?"

"THE FACT THAT YOU COULD'VE KILLED HER!"

"I already said I wasn't going to drop her. What more do you want?" TJ asked him.

"I don't understand you," Prickly said, taking two aspirin. "I thought you said you weren't going to do anymore big pranks."

"This wasn't a prank, sir," TJ told him. "It was more of a warning so they wouldn't do anything to piss me off and make me do the pranks in the first place. And she didn't get hurt, so it's not a big deal. I kept my promise."

"What is it going to take to get you to stop acting like this?" Prickly asked the unfazed student.

"Nothing much, just for the whole playground to know that they shouldn't cross paths with me. I think that should be simple enough for them but they keep pushing me sir, so half of it isn't even my fault because they should know better. But if they keep messing with me then I'm going to retaliate. That's just how it has to be. I would think after knowing what I can do they would back off by apparently not," TJ explained. "I'm not saying I didn't do what I did, just that it wasn't completely my fault. Can I go now?"

"I don't know! I'm afraid that you'll pull something else crazier than this!"

"I'm not gonna do anything," Said TJ. "I don't feel like it. I'll see you later."

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><p><strong>I don't know if you all have read a certain authors note in another story of mine so I'm going to say it again. I was watching the Magic School Bus one day even though I think it's such a cheesy show and I noticed that one of the characters looks just like TJ. I think his name was Ralphie and the two of them look so alike it's scary. And that's sort of how I came up with this story. But it still creep's me out to this day.<strong>

**Final note, I read this particular story and it…..disturbed me to say the least. It's in this section and it made it hard to think about the show and not think about that story O_O anyways….**

**RandallXSpinelli: Speaking of sociopathic tendencies, before I was sure of how I wanted this story to go I spent like, two weeks trying to convince myself that he could turn out to be a psychopath. That didn't work out so well. :P Well actually the verdict is still out on that one, but still. :D I used the longer verision of Zack (Zackary).**

**Donna nnov: …I forgot what I was going to say. :P Sorry.**

**Please review!**


	7. Force Of Nature

**Did the last chapter disturb you all? Good.**

**This chapter continues right after the last chapter, because today is an eventful day for the **_**Recess**_** kids. **

**Side note, I know it said two chapters ago that TJ had his hat taken away and then the last chapter mentioned his hat falling off his head. Well you all remember that one episode when he and Gretchen had to do a project together? There's like a three second scene where we see in his closet that he had like, four more hats. So he basically took one of those. Okay?**

**Ah, if you think last chapter was epically dramatic, then wait until you read this one! I make like, two references in this chapter. Can you spot them?**

**Read on!**

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><p>Walking down the halls back to class, TJ smiled to himself as the students in his path moved out of his way. Whether it was because of what he did to the little kindergartener, or if they were afraid he would to that them didn't matter him. All that mattered was that they finally learned not to try and do anything to him to try and get revenge. Pausing outside of the classroom he looked around for those who were whispering behind him, and once he spotted them they quickly shut their mouths. Once the silence was reestablished he continued his way into the classroom and sat at his desk.<p>

While TJ continued his day satisfied with the student body knowing exactly what he was capable of, the students (or at least the one's he pasted on his way to class and the ones that were in his class) were dumbfounded. Why was he still allowed to be in school? He almost dropped someone off the roof! He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the school! But he was still there, sitting in class with his feet on the desk acting as if the whole event didn't take place at all.

Half of them thought he absolutely had to crazy to do what he did. It was one thing to play pranks on them; at least they were the same age and were able to fight back. But a kindergartener? A five year old? That was just cruel in every sense of the word! It was unanimous that he deserved to be punished, but they all knew that whatever they did to him, he would strike back twice as hard. So there wasn't really anything that they could do except hope that he would stop on his own.

The other half was trying to figure out a way to convince their parents to transfer them to another school solely to get away from him.

Sensing eye's looking at him, TJ turned to the rest of the class seeing that at least ten other students, including three of his ex-friends, looking at him. When they saw him looking back they quickly redirected their attention to the front of the class.

'Today,' he thought to himself as he faced the front of the class. 'Is a good day. A _very_ good day.' Everyone had finally gotten the message that they didn't stand a chance against him. If only they had gotten that message sooner and he wouldn't have done what he did only an hour earlier. It wasn't as if he didn't try to warn them that he would strike back, but they just kept pushing it and it led to that. It was their own fault in his eyes. Yeah, he _told_ principal Prickly that he supposed it was only _half_ his fault, but that was just it get him off of his back. He truly believed it was everyone else's fault; they brought it on themselves for not heeding his warnings, and they had to learn. They just choose to learn the hard way. But he still didn't plan on dropping the little girl.

Content with the outcome he folded his arms and let out a light chuckle, gaining the attention of those around him. Too happy to care, he let them stare at him in confusion.

**~*~SECOND RECESS~*~**

Ignoring the mix of heated glares and terrified looks sent his way, TJ headed to the old abandoned playground for a safe, secluded area away from everyone else. The fear of kindergarteners hiding out their didn't faze him; if any of them were hiding out there, once they saw him they would head for the hills as fast as their little legs would allow. But no one was there to pose a threat. Sitting on the old and rusty roundabout, he pulled out the few things he was given by the older kids in the back alley.

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"You want us to do _**WHAT?**_"

In a spot on the playground away from the others, especially TJ, King Gordy had ordered his former friends to come to him for something that he regard as important to 'playground security.' Due to the guards that were used to bring them to the spot, they didn't have much of a choice in the matter. So they went. As soon as they were there Gordy had told them what he wanted them to do and they were appalled to say the least.

"Watch him," King Gordy repeated. "See what he's up to, but stay out of sight. He'll do something crazy if he catches you!"

"What makes you think we want to spend our recess doing surveillance on him?" Spinelli angrily asked King Gordy. "It's recess and we want to play!"

"You're not going to be able to play with him around," Gordy said back. "You don't have to watch him the entire recess, just enough to get an idea of what he's planning so we can at least try and avoid it. It's not like I'm asking you to stop it."

"What's in it for us?" Vince asked him.

"Immunity from any and all punishments from me," He said. "The dodgeball wall, swirlies, all of that is off limits for you guys if you do this."

"Sounds like a good deal to me," Gus whispered.

"Okay," Spinelli said. "You have a deal."

"Good. I'm glad you see it my way. Now my guards saw him heading towards the old playground. You might find him there," Said Gordy. "You all are doing something great for the playground. We're all thankful."

"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure you keep your end of the deal." With that the group walked away from the king and his guards and started to walk across the playground to their new destination. They had hoped to do anything but this for recess but fate had other things in mind for the five of them. Once they reached the bushes that marked the edge of their playground and the old one they began to crawl through the bushes to minimize the risk of being seen. When the old playground was in sight they approached as close as they could while staying in the bushes and not being seen. As soon as they settled down they could see TJ on the roundabout kicking the ground to make it spin. He was holding something in his hand and a thin line of smoke was coming from the tip. From their spot on the ground the five onlookers couldn't make out what it was, but whatever it was they thought that it had to be whatever was making him act strange.

He was giggling, more than when they were in class, and h almost fell of the roundabout more than once. Once he finally did fall he laughed at himself and got back on the spinning device. Seconds later he brought what was in his hand to his lips and took a very deep breath and it was then when the five spies in the bushes knew what was going on.

"I know you guys are out there," TJ yelled with a drug-induced slur. "I may be high but I'm not stupid. Come out of the bushes."

"What are you doing with that stuff, Teej?" Gus asked as they all came out of the bushes. Don't you remember when those people came to our class last year and told us about drugs?"

"Yeah I think so," He said pushing the roundabout to spin. "Drugs are bad, M'kay? Something like that. So what's your point, Griswold?"

"His point is you're not supposed to have it!" Spinelli snapped at him. Ignoring her, TJ stepped off the spinning wheel and inhaled another long drag after turning away from them. A few seconds later he turned back around to face them with a twisted smile on his face.

"Hey Mikey," He hissed with a giggle. "Do the truffle-shuffle!"

"….What?"

"DO THE TRUFFLE-SHUFFLE!" He couldn't finish his last sentence without falling to the ground laughing. "I've been wanting to say that for forever! But seriously, get out of here before I do something to the entire playground!" Grudgingly, the five of them began to walk back to the playground, leaving him alone. After he was by himself he laid on the ground, watching the clouds go by.

**~*~AFTER SCHOOL~*~**

Slamming the front door shut to his house, TJ tossed his backpack into the corner and walked into the living room. Once the high wore of he was more than aware of the smell that clung to his clothes, and because of that he knew that there was no way he could walk up to his room without being noticed, so he decided to face the punishment head on. He figured his parents would be in the kitchen once he arrived home and that was his new destination when school was let out. Reaching the living room, he could hear his parents talking and decided to listen.

"It says here in the brochure that the people at Diamond Ranch are certified at rehabilitating their students," Mr. Detweiler said. "It says they're experts at making kids behave."

"But its two states over," Said his mother. "I don't know if I feel comfortable sending him that far away, even if they can help him…."

"They have plenty of councilors available around the clock. And he would be more than able to keep up with his school work and do and ton of other things to keep him out of trouble. It's a certified academy and it seems a lot better than boot camp."

"I'm still not sure about this," Said Mrs. Detweiler. "I think we should wait until the next school year to sign him up."

"So they're planning on sending me away," TJ said, standing up from the couch. "That's fine, I hate it around here anyways…." Without giving his parents a chance to know that he came home, he left the house.

**~*~LATER~*~**

"The Diamond Ranch Academy, huh? Isn't that place two states over?" Principal Prickly said as he cleaned his gutters and TJ watched from below.

"I guess so," TJ said. "They said that they want to send me there next year."

"I don't blame them. That place is notorious for making kids behave," He said stepping off the ladder. "Then there's the substance abuse program; don't think I can't smell the marijuana on you. But I still don't think that's going to help any."

"But they don't understand that!" TJ said as the two of them went inside the house. "Doesn't matter anyway. After a week they'll send me home with a note saying that they give up."

"I actually agree with you with that." For the next few hours the two of them sat in the living room trying to find something on TV to watch. After the first five minutes they were trying to figure out exactly why there was nothing good on. It wasn't the weekend; there should be _something_ on. Finally they found a very old episode of the Power Rangers showing and settled on that.

"Hey Principal Prickly, can I tell you something?" TJ asked once the commercials came on.

"What is it, Detweiler?"

"I think I might be the antichrist," He said. Seeing the confused expression on his principal's face he took that as a cue to continue. "I've been feeling like this for a while now. It would make a lot of sense wouldn't it? I think it might be me."

"Detweiler you are not the antichrist," Said Prickly. "You're doing bad things, but you're not _that_ bad."

"It's just that I have this fascination with fire. Look," he paused, taking out the lighter in his pocket and flicking it on. "I could stare at this all day and not get bored. It's so small and weak now but all it needs to do is jump and it'll be the most powerful thing in the world, and even then people still depend on it. It kills people without mercy but they still worship it without question. I love it. Doesn't that sound like something the antichrist might say? Then there's this birthmark I found on my head…."

"You're reading way too much into this," Principal Prickly told him, grabbing the phone. "What kind of pizza do you like?"

"Pepperoni please."

**~*~THE NEXT DAY~*~**

Since coming up with pranks was suddenly out of his ability (Whether it was temporary or not was up for debate) TJ spent his time in class looking at what captivated him the most: the little flame coming out the lighter. While the teacher wrote on the board with his back turned he flicked the lighter on and off. The smoke that came from the flame caught the attention of those around him. Looking over they watched in horror as he fearlessly played with the fire between his fingers. He stared right back at them with a glare that said 'mind your own fucking business.'

When the bell rang for recess he headed out to the same place he spent his time yesterday: the old abandoned playground. But before he crossed the line between the current playground and the old he paused waiting for a sign of his former friends to come and bother him. He took a long and stress filled drag of his last gift from the older kids he heard footsteps approaching him.

"I swear to God if you guys don't leave me alone I'm going to light the school on fire so you won't be alive to bother me anymore," He said out loud.

"You wouldn't really do that would you?" MIkey asked him. Without giving him and answer, TJ walked through the bushes in an effort to get away from them. Luckily for him they didn't seem to be following him. Laying down the ground he made it a goal to ignore any subsequent bells signaling the time to return to class.

**~*~IN CLASS~*~**

Instead of paying attention to the lecture being presented in front of them, the students in the sixth grade class was focused on something else. Sure, the lecture was important and the teach even said that everything being said would be on the test Friday, they didn't deny that at all.

But there was an overpowering smell of smoke quickly filling the class.

Soon the teacher noticed and opened the window, thinking that it was nothing and the smell would go away. That idea was put to rest when smoke started to come through the bottom of the door and the loud sound of the smoke alarm rang. All the students rang to the door but when it was opened the massive amount of smoke make it impossible to see past the door frame, so they rushed to the windows which was being used as an exit from the other classes as well.

The teachers made them gather outside of the fence circling the school to do a head count of all the students as the fire trucks began to arrive. Soon the firemen were aiming their fire engulfed school. The sound of a few ambulances approaching filled the air for the students that were hurt from the blaze.

"What the hell happened here?" Turning from the scene unfolding in front of them, the students watched TJ as he came out of the bushes the lead to the old playground. "That's a really big fire…." He said with a smile, watching the school fire being extinguished. "Like _really_ big. Too bad I missed everything." Grabbing the wire fence he climbed and carefully made his way over the barbed wire at the top and hopped over the edge. "Guess this means school's out, huh?" Despite the looks sent his way he walked down the street unfazed.

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><p><strong>Burton's Disney Princess: I'm so sorry you have school for two more weeks! I would be going crazy if I was you, but that's mostly because I can't stand my roommate. I'm glad you like the pranks I came up with; I thought they were pretty lame but you reassured me that they aren't! :) <strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: I read **_**Where the Skeletons Lie**_** (which is a really good story by the way. It made me mad though how they didn't tell the truth from the beginning and how like almost everyone blamed TJ even though he wanted to tell. I was **_**ENRAGED!**_**), but that's not the one I'm talking about or the one where Butch is cutting himself (I'm so glad that one finally got updated). The one I was speaking of is called **_**The Magazines **_**and it's in the M section. It's disturbing, but IT'S SO GOOD LIKE REALLY. I highly recommend it for everyone. Typing this response actually reminded me of the story that inspired me to write **_**Fit for a King**_**. **

**Donna Nnov: I went through a phrase of looking up mental disorders! :D it was just so interesting! Yes, in the real world he would be put in a strait jacket and tossed in a white room :) But it's not real life so I have free reign of what happens. So I have a question for you since you're the closet thing I have to a mental expert. From the way I'm depicting him, do you think TJ is a psychopath? Your answer may just change the outcome of the story! :D**

**Jasmine Ann Snape: He called him his sons name for a reason but he hasn't quite realized why yet. And there is a really big reason why.**

**Please Review!**


	8. With A Smile

***Smiles* I just keep making things worse don't I? I love it, because I'm a bit of literary sadist even though I try to hide it (but you all can tell by the plot lines of some of my other stories can't you?).**

**I said in the beginning that this story was going to be long, and it is. We're eight chapters in and we barely did anything. But we're getting to the good part!**

**The place I mentioned in the last chapter, the Diamond Ranch Academy, is a real place. I've been seeing ads for it all over the internet and since it said something about out of control teens I clicked on it and did some research. I ultimately decided to add it into the story because it fits in so well. But it's only minor. **

**Read on! **

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><p>"So let me get this straight. Instead of dealing with me yourselves you're sending me to a reform school to be somebody else's problem?"<p>

Upon his arrival home after school, TJ found his parents waiting for him in the living room. From the look on their faces he could tell they wanted to talk about something important; probably what he heard them discussing in the kitchen yesterday. Because he was having such a wonderful day he decided to humor them and pretend like he actually gave a damn. What the harm in making them think he was worried about what would happen to him for a few minutes? Going to Diamond Ranch didn't faze him at all. After coming home from Prickly's house he got on his computer and did a little research on that place. What he found was that it was indeed a type of behavior modification camp made for kids that all other methods failed to make them act normally, but he wasn't deterred; in fact he was determined. Those kids in the video who were talking about how they've changed from being unruly children to model citizens looked like they were struggling to fake it for the camera. In a few days he knew he could turn them back into the rebels that they are and raise hell for the school, their parents, and the entire state of Utah. Oh what fun that would be. Even if that didn't work he could always fall off a cliff and sue the school for everything they had and then some. Either way, at the end of the day he would be sent back home with a letter saying that he was a demon spawn sent from hell and that he wasn't allowed back into the state.

"That's right," His father said. "We've tried everything to get you to straighten up but nothing's worked. So maybe this will."

"We didn't want to do this," Said his mother. "But you're leaving us with no choice, TJ. We don't know what has gotten into you but you need to learn to behave. Maybe the people at Diamond Ranch can help you."

"Yeah right," TJ mumbled. "What are a bunch of fucking Mormons gonna teach me? Way to be parent's mom and dad. Send me two states away so you can pretend I don't exist. That's good parenting. I hope you know I'll be back in a week….." before his parents could tell him to watch his mouth sound of a loud knocking on the front door. His parents got up from their seats and answered to door to be met with two police officers.

"Ma'am," one of the officers said. "Is your son home?"

"Yes he is," Said Mrs. Detweiler. Hearing himself being mentioned, TJ came into the hallway to see what exactly was going on. "What's the problem, Officer?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Detweiler we have reason to believe that your son may have had something to do with the fire at Third Street School," Said the Officer.

"….what?"

"Oh yeah," TJ said getting the attention of the adults. "That fire at the school. It was a big fire. Too bad I missed it. It looked like it was good too."

"Your son needs to come with us to the station for questioning," The officer said as he came into the house and began to put their son in handcuffs. "You all can come down to the station but we have to take him down ourselves. It's just a part of protocol." As the officers recited his Miranda rights (I hope I spelled that correctly) TJ was handcuffed and led out the house into the police cruiser parked outside. Once the door was shut and few more words were exchanged between the officers and his parents, the car was driving down the street towards the police station downtown. As the cruiser passed the school TJ took a glance at what remained of it. All of the windows were broken, and the sides were burned from the flames. A small amount of smoke was still coming out of the windows, and firefighters were still there making sure there weren't any flames they missed. Not only did he see the remains of the building but a few of the kids that stuck around a little longer too. When they caught sight of him being driven away in the police car some of them cheered, some of them sent looks of hatred his way, and some of them showed that hatred in the form of hand gestures. Leaning back in his seat, TJ began to wonder how long this ride was going to last. Having to sit with his hands handcuffed behind his back was uncomfortable and he didn't want to have to be like that longer than what was necessary.

**~*~LATER~*~ **

'Why would they bring me here just to leave me in this dank room?'

With an exhausted sigh TJ banged his head against the gray table in front of him. When he finally arrived at the police station he was immediately brought inside, put into the room he was currently in and left alone by himself. The good thing was that the handcuffs were taken off of him. The bad thing was that it's been about twenty minutes since he was brought here and no one had bothered to take time out of their day to explain why he was there. It wouldn't have been so bad on any other day, but today he had plans and this put a hitch in them. The room was dark, only lit from a single light hanging from the ceiling, it was barely warm enough to keep anyone who happened to be inside from shivering, and the table and chairs inside where needlessly uncomfortable. Those officers couldn't come back in soon enough. What was taking them so long? Maybe they couldn't do anything until his parents arrived and that what was keeping them from doing anything. No, that was too easy of an excuse.

"I have things to do, you know!" He yelled hoping that someone who might just be passing the door would hear. Still, nothing. "If no one's coming in here I'm going to sleep. This is fucking ridiculous…" Laying his head down TJ closed his eyes and bean to drift off to sleep.

**~*~TWENTY MINUTES LATER~*~**

An annoying poke to his shoulder woke TJ from his sleep and he was met with the sight of two officers in the room. Sitting up in his chair he looked behind him and saw his parents sitting in the chairs against the wall.

'It's about time someone showed up,' he thought to himself. He watched as one of the officers closed the door and the other tossed a rather thick file on the table. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before either one of them bothered to speak up.

"Listen kid," one of the officers whose badge read Officer Lincoln said. "What do you know about the fire at your school?"

"The fire?" TJ repeated. "I know that it was big and I missed it. I bet it was beautiful too. Fire's a beautiful thing, you see officer. It's so strong but gentle at the same time. I always carry a lighter around with me to look at it when I want to."

"That would be good reason for you to start it, would it?"

"Start what?"

"The fire!" The officer yelled. "We talked to some of the students at your school and they say you started the fire!"

**~*~EARILER~*~**

As the students of Third Street watch the firefighters struggle to put the fire out they could hear more sirens approaching the scene. Some of the students that did get out quick enough were sitting on the ground together to make it easier for the EMT's to find and treat them. By a stroke of luck every student was in class at the time, and every one of those students managed to get out, but a few were burned, some more severely than others. But they were happy nothing worse happened to them. A few of the kids turned to see three ambulances and a few police cars pull up. The EMT's quickly got to work assessing the severity of the burns. Ten students had gotten hurt; a first grader, a second grader, three fourth graders, and five sixth graders were hurt in the fire, including Butch, upside down girl, Ashley B., Hustler Kid, and Spinelli.

Soon the fire was subdued and the officers were allowed to get a closer look of the outside of the school for any clue while others began to talk to the students to see if they knew anything.

"You know who did it?" Gordy shouted over the officers behind the crowd gain the attention of those around him. "Don't look at me like that," He told his fellow classmates. "You all know as much as I do that Detweiler started this fire! Only he would do something like this! Remember when I talked to him on top of the jungle gym and he said he would set the school on fire just to 'shut us up?'" Shouts of agreements came from the crowd.

"Today he told us that he would set the school fire to get us to leave him alone!" Spinelli shouted as she was lifted into one of the ambulances. As the students agreed more and more of them stepped forwarded to tell the officers of what had been done to them and the threats that have been made.

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

"Oh those guys? They would say anything to get me to leave them alone."

"So why won't you?" The officer with the badge labeled Officer Berbater.

"It so much fun messing with them you know?" TJ said with a laugh as he put his feet on the table and leaned back the chair he was sitting in. "Watching them freak out when something happens to them is fun. It's hilarious when they try to get me to stop too, but that's not going to happen. It was too much fun just to stop. It only got worse because of them. They destroyed my bike, so I destroy them. It's only fair. Then they had to snitch about me drinking and that just pissed me off. So if they wanted to keep fighting back I was going to keep fighting until they know that I'm in charge. And I had fun doing it. What's wrong with a little fun? Aren't I allowed to have fun?"

"So spreading itching and sneezing powder all over the playground was 'fun?'" Officer Lincoln asked him.

"Yes."

"And spreading vermin, shooting paintball guns, and launching illegal fireworks was 'fun?'"

"Yes."

"And setting the school on fire was fun as well?" Asked Officer Berbater.

"I didn't set it on fire," said TJ, smiling. "As brilliant as I think that was, it wasn't me."

"This what's this?" the officer picked something off of the floor and set it on the table. Looking closer at it, TJ could see that it was his backpack, charred at the edges with smoke still coming from it.

"Aww, that's mine," He said. "I had comics in there. They're probably ash now…"

"This was found where the fire started," said Officer Lincoln. "Can you explain why?"

"No not really," he said grabbing the remains of the backpack and looking inside only to see a pile of ash. "It sucks though because I was planning on reading that comic tomorrow in class."

"Look kid, we know you started the fire," The officer said. "Just admit that you did it and we won't have a problem."

"If that's the case we already have a problem," TJ told them. "Because I didn't do it."

"Your friends said that you said you were planning on doing it today!"

"And I say their spouting shit out of their mouths."

"Listen," Officer Berbater said. "If you admit that you did it then this doesn't have to go to court. The School Board wants to press charges for this!"

"But I didn't do it," Said TJ laughing. "They can't really punish me for what I didn't do." The two officers let out an exasperated sigh before turning to face his parents.

"I suggest you folks find your kid a lawyer," They told them. "You all are free to go."

"Thank God," TJ said getting out of his seat. "I thought you were going to try that good cop bad cop bullshit on me." Before leaving his parent had to sign a few papers at the front desk of the station. Looking out the window TJ could see a large crowd consisting of parents and their kids. He recognized them as being from the school right away.

'Figures they would be out there,' he thought. Even from inside he could hear them screaming. It was more that obvious they were angry at him. 'Probably about that fire. Oh….this is hysterical.' Of course they would be at the police station. Their kids would've told them about the fire and they would be down there to report it without question. Especially the parents of the kids who were burned. As they made their way to the car, he and his parents were met with the onslaught of insult thrown their way from the frustrated adults. For the past year and a half they had to deal with their kids coming home with something in their hair, something that made them sick, or an injury caused by him and it was driving them crazy. Now it seemed like justice was being served for the first time. Was a safe school too much to ask for?

As they express their anger in the form of yells and screams at the child, TJ tried to hide his laughter but wasn't doing a very good job of it. It was funny; how they were reacting to this was just funny. But it wasn't funny how he did have enough time left to do what he wanted to do after school. It was important to him too. Once his parents didn't allow him to do much of anything lately he looked forward to sneaking out and going over to his principals house; the guy was pretty much the only person he really respected at this point. But now his plans were scrapped. Oh well, there was always tomorrow.

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><p><strong>I'm thinking of becoming a beta reader.<strong>

**Also, I need to ask someone this question. What's up with authors pairing up Butch and Hustler kid? I'm not against it or anything (actually find the couple to be cute), it just seems like it came out of almost nowhere.**

**One more thing, I need last names! For lawyers and a few for other reasons that will be used in the story later. I'm not good with names 'cause I think of nicknames first then the real names.**

**RandallXSpinelli: I don't about the show's location. You're right about that fact that it almost never rains, but that could found in a lot of kids shows. Probably somewhere towards the south or the mid-west I'd imagine. But since I mentioned that the place they want to send him to is two states over and the place is in Utah, for this story the show might be in either Kansas, Montana, California (I'm a little reluctant for it to be in Cali) Washington, or Oregon. Take your pick. :D But I think in one episode they gave coordinates to the playground and I think that if you use the numbers they give you could actually pinpoint on the map where the show takes place. **

**Mable: Yes he does. :P What those problems are, are yet to be known. But we're getting there so stick around! And those are some interesting voices going on in your head!**

**Donna Nnov: that was a long rant. :) I had to read it five times actually. Not that I mind or anything. Yeah I was kind of on the fence with that issue. Something's going on in that head of his; the question is what exactly that is. I haven't figured it out yet but we'll see at some point in the story I promise you that. And apparently Third Street is nearby you! :P LMAO. Reading that gave me a good laugh. And try to remember what changed your mind, 'm interested in what that was!**

**Please Review!**


	9. Like You

**I feel that the last chapter was somewhat uneventful so I'm going to try and make up for it here with more bonding time between our favorite little terror and his principal. That doesn't happen right away but it does take up a bulk of the chapter so hooray_!_**

**Ah folks I wish I can write a chapter everyday (oh how I wish I could) but I can't. I try but I keep thinking about the future of this story and that distracts me even though I'm on my laptop most of the time. I'm going to try to be at least half way through this story by the time school starts back up again because with being on the school newspaper and having a senior level class as a freshman, I might be too busy to update as much as I'd like. But I like to stay up late and we get out in April so it should balance out somehow since writing fanfiction is a stress relief.**

**This chapter takes place on the following day and I have to say that I'm trying my best with this legal stuff so bear with me here guys. Most of what I know from courts comes from Judge Judy and Judge Mathis. I only have a small amount of experience with courtroom dramas and that came from one assignment in creative writing (which I got a C on).**

**Read On!**

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><p>"You all certainly have a case on your hands….."<p>

After being told that they should find a lawyer for their son, as soon as they arrived home they went to work. Because he was the one in need of the lawyer TJ was forced to look for one in the directory while his parents called around and looked online. Of course this tasked bored him almost instantly and soon he wasn't really looking, just turning the pages to make it seem like he was looking. He sat at the kitchen table for the rest of the day and well into the night turning the pages and trying not to get out of his seat and leave. He tried telling his parents that it was school night and he had to go to school tomorrow, but with the school having caught on fire that argument didn't hold up. Around 11 p.m. his parents had managed to find a lawyer that could come over the next morning to discuss what needs to be done.

When the next morning came TJ entered the kitchen to see papers and files all over the table with his parents talking to who he assumed to be his lawyer. Walking past them to get to the cereal he listened to the conversation taking place.

"According to the police report the School Board wants to press charges against him," Said the men that appeared to be the lawyer. "They're going for arson. We have to wait for the preliminary hearing to see if they have enough _to_ press charges and if they do then it's going to be really difficult to build a defense with his record."

"What a preliminary hearing?" Mrs. Detweiler asked him.

"It's when both sides, the defense attorney and prosecutor come together in front of the judge and the prosecutor gives somewhat of a 'preview' of the case they want to bring forward and basically gives both sides to know what exactly is going on. The judge decides whether or not they have a case and if they do, we come back in two weeks for the actual hearing," The lawyer explained. "They haven't set a date for the preliminary hearing yet but when I get the call I'll tell you all right away. But I am more than sure they'll have now problem convincing the judge to let them go forward with the case so I highly recommend building a defense now know that they'll have no problem with their side especially with his record. Until this whole thing is over your son needs to stay out of trouble. Anything he does can and will be used against him and that is the last thing we need to happen."

"I'm not making any promises," TJ said walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal. "I fucking hate promises…." Sitting on the couch in the living room he continued to listen in on the conversation in the kitchen.

"Worst case scenario, they find a way to charge him as an adult," The lawyer said. "Because he's thirteen, it can be done in this jurisdiction. If they do, and I'm not sure if they will, we might have to take a plea bargain. Have him plead guilty and get less time. Let's say they want to put him away for…..five years. If we can reach a plea bargain then it might only be for two or three years. Even if they don't charge him as an adult the need for a plea bargain is still a real possibility."

"How can even blame me for this," TJ said as he put the bowl into the kitchen sink. "I didn't do anything! This is bullshit…" Leaving the three adults aloe he headed upstairs to get dressed. With the school burned down classes were cancelled until the School Board found a new place for everyone to go. After putting on his blue jeans, black shirt and open green button up, he carefully headed out the front door.

**~*~LATER~*~**

'Dammit, he locked the window.'

Standing outside of a window to him principals house, TJ was looking for a way inside. The window he would normally climb through was locked, as well as all the other windows on the first floor. He knew that the house wasn't empty; there was a car parked in the driveway. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was turn around and go back home, so he searched through the windows for any sign of activity. Not finding any, he decided to do the next best thing: ringing the doorbell. For a few minutes there was no response so he knocked again. This time it opened within seconds.

"What are you doing here, Detweiler?" Principal Prickly asked him. "After setting the school on fire I would think you would be locked up."

"They brought me in for interrogation yesterday, if that's anything," Said TJ. "Can I come in?"

"I don't know," Said the Principal. "Can I trust you?"

"Of course," He said with a smile. After a brief moment of silence passed, Principal Prickly let him come in. "So what's up with the school? It looks bad."

"It's not as bad as it looks," Prickly said. "The foundation is still good, and the burns on the wall are only on the surface. It should be repaired in month or two."

"So no school for two months?" TJ hopefully asked.

"You wish. The students are going to be transferred to another school or the community center until the repairs are done," He said. "Even after the fire there's still going to be school."

"I didn't do it," Said TJ as he roamed through the house. "I don't like the school but I didn't do it."

"I know that, Detweiler."

"….You do?"

"Yes. I know you wouldn't light the school on fire. It's not your style," Principal Prickly said. "I've known you for seven years, even if you do the really bad things I know what you're capable of and setting the school on fire isn't one of them."

"Thanks, I guess," TJ said looking around the room they were currently in. Looking around an old and small picture frame caught his attention. Picking it he wiped off the small amount of dust on the glass. Staring back at him was a boy, around the age of six or seven. His face, hands, and knees had dirt on them, perfectly matching the sloppiness of his black hair. In one hand he clutched the arm of a shaggy teddy bear and the other hand was waving at whoever was taking the picture. "Is this your son?" He asked, handing over the picture. He watched and waited for an answer as Principal Prickly patted off more of the dust.

"That's him," He said. "That's definitely Zack. Dirty as always."

"He looks like you," TJ said as he sat on the floor. "What was he like?"

"Like you," the Principal said sitting down next to him. "He played pranks, mostly whoopee cushions and hand buzzers."

"I remember when I used that stuff," TJ mumbled. "God I was such a fucking amateur…"

"Watch your language! I don't know what your parents put up with at home but you're not going to swear in my house."

"Sorry, sir."

"Good. Now, he was a lot like you. He played a lot of pranks but it was minor stuff. He was smart and he always tried to make me understand a point of his was trying to make." As he listened to what was being said, for the first time in months TJ sat still and showed genuine interest. For a long time whenever someone tried to tell him something he didn't care about what was being said. He didn't interrupt the entire time.

"I think," Prickly said, finishing off the story. "You two would've been best friends if you were the same age." TJ stayed quiet. "Why do you do the things you do Detweiler? Don't you know that it's bad and that it's hurting people?"

"Well I _know_ it's bad," TJ told him. "And I know it hurts other people. I can write you a list of reasons why it's bad and why I shouldn't do it. But _when_ I do it I don't care at all."

"You don't 'care'?"

"Not when I'm doing it," He said. "I still think its fun though. Why is it so bad that I wanna have fun my way?"

"Because it's hurting those around you," Said Principal Prickly. "Why is so hard for you to behave all of a sudden? You seem to have no problem behaving yourself around me."

"My parents aren't a threat to me anymore," TJ said. "I don't take them seriously. I think they've sort of given up 'cause they wanna send me away. But I'm not worried because the people there are gonna give up to and send me back. But I don't like behaving. I feel limited. I listen to you 'cause you're kinda like a role model and I respect you. You're not a threat. Anyways, what were you planning on doing today? I'm bored and I don't wanna go home."

"I was planning on painting the living room seeing that I don't have to go to work for the rest of the week."

"Oh. So can I help?"

"If you must, Detweiler. C'mon." The two of them stood up from their seats on the ground and headed to the living room where all the furniture was moved into the middle of the room and was covered with a sheet. After mixing the paint and pouring it into the pan they each grabbed a roller pin and began to spread the paint on the walls without saying a word for the first few minutes.

"Do you like being a principal?" TJ asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it's alright," Prickly said. "But then there's always that one student that gives you more trouble and headaches than necessary."

"Sorry about that," He said. "About me getting in so much trouble, and giving you headaches, and almost making you lose your job; sorry."

"Apology accepted," Said the Principal. "Just try to focus all the energy you put into something more constructive and everything will be fine."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something that'll reestablish the good side of you. Maybe religion. I hear that works wonders for kids."

"You're kidding, right? _Religion_? Do you know how much violence is in my religion? I'm Jewish; we killed Jesus. Doesn't get much more violent than that. But….you mean the good and nice parts right? There's a lot of that too. It's a good religion and everything but I guess I have some hostility towards it 'cause it missed out on my Bar Mitzvah."

"What do you mean you missed out? You're thirteen right? Weren't you supposed to have a Bar Mitzvah?"

"Yeah, but I was grounded and since it's basically a party my parents cancelled it. I can still have one but it's supposed to be when you turn thirteen 'cause that when I become a 'man.' At least in the eyes of the church," TJ said. "My arm hurts. Can I sit down?"

"Go ahead," Said Prickly talking the paint roller from him. "It doesn't have to be religion. It could be sports, it could be art, it could be debate, just something for you to focus on that isn't destructive. Or at least curb it. What you're doing now might seem fun, but you might find something else that's more fun than that. And you might be really good at it too. But what you're doing now is going to get you in more trouble than you can imagine and that doesn't have to happen. Do you understand what I'm trying to say here Detweiler?" No answer. Turning around he saw TJ laying on the floor asleep. "If you were going to fall asleep you should've went into the next room. At least then you wouldn't be blocking the wall."

**~*~LATER~*~**

"How long was I out….?" TJ asked no one in particular as he woke up. Looking at his watch he saw that it was only an hour and a half since he fell asleep. Standing up he saw that the walls of the rooms were now painted, minus the one he was sleeping against. "I would've moved if he told me to wake up…"

"I tried but you were knocked out," Prickly said a came into the room.

"Oh. I didn't get much sleep last night; that's probably why," He said. "I think I should be going home now. My parents probably wanna tell me what's going on with my case. I'll see you later, Principal Prickly."

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><p><strong>RandallXSpinelli: I know 'cause it's like 'did he do it and lying about it or is he telling the truth' and you can't tell. D: that's what I was going for though. I've been doing MAJOR research on mental disorders and I think I found something(s) I can use here. I <strong>_**think**_**. I hope you enjoyed the bonding in this chapter. Back when I watched the show when it originally aired (because I don't think it now) I always thought that there was a deeper reason the two of the got along so well (or why when they didn't). I used to have this idea that Prickly had a son but under circumstances that I never bothered to come up with he had to put him up for adoption when his son was still a baby and that baby just so happened to be TJ but neither of them knew it. :) Sound's really out there doesn't it?**

**Donna nnov: Ahh, those should be enough names, thanks. ;D I feel kinda bad when I do bad things to character (although that never lasts **_**too**_** long) even though they're not real people. But I dunno, they have to suffer I suppose. :D**

**Please Review!**


	10. Manic

**Things get cRaZy in here folks. You're all going to be like, 'someone stop him!' and 'WTF is he doing?' and such. Ah, it'll be a fun time…**

**I've been thinking about it and I hope to spend three chapters on the courtroom drama (I hope). This chapter doesn't count. At the most it'll be five but I'm aiming for three. But there's going to be one or two more chapters before then. Gawd I feel like this story is going SO slow even though that's how I planned it to be. Then there's that big unearthly chunk I plan for the middle of the story. In other words, this story is right on track. :)**

**Lastly, I messed up. I really did. I said last chapter that TJ was 13 and he is. However that would mean that he should be in the seventh or eighth grade and he's not. He's still in the sixth. So for that little mistake I have to improvise. For this story let's just say that the middle school was incredibly overcrowded so they added an extension of that middle school to the elementary school that goes up to the eighth grade and the gang is in….let's say eighth grade. You all can imagine it to be seventh if you'd like. I just want to be accurate. It's kinda how my old school was set up with the grades running through Kindergarten to eighth grade. Problem solved. :) **

**The first part here is kind of boring 'cause court proceedings are boring but pull through! It gets better! And Prickly's a hero so there's that to look forward to.**

**Read on! **

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><p>After having to be taken in by the police for interrogation, and learning of the charges being pressed against him, TJ caught on that he wasn't going to have much time for himself for a while. The trial might take god know how long, and he wasn't one for sitting down in courtroom, watching people talk about a bunch of stuff he didn't care about all day. This belief was reassured the following Monday when the preliminary hearing was scheduled. Although most of the conversation would be between his lawyer, Mr. Wilson, the lawyer on the side that wanted to prosecute him, and his parents, he was required to come along as well because he was the one being charged.<p>

He didn't understand why he had to come along. He didn't care about what went on between the two sides and he wanted to do other things. Having to go to the trial was bad enough but having to endure what went on behind the scene was too much. Not only that, but he had to wear a suit and comb his hair in order to look decent in front of the judge. Now he was waiting in a room at the courthouse, sitting at a long table with himself, his lawyer, and parents on one side and a few representatives for the School Board and their lawyer on the other. To lessen the frustration he felt for being there, TJ brought a handheld game. Normally his parents would've taken it away from him, but since it was keeping him quiet and from doing anything that could be destructive they let him have it.

The tension in the room was alleviated when the door opened and the judge came in. She sat at the head of the table gaining the attention of everyone in the room. From what TJ gathered in the last few days her name was Judge Caffery.

"Alright," Judge Caffery said starting the conversation. "Who is charging what against whom?"

"We are the one's pressing charges," Said the lawyer on the opposite side of the table. "For arson against the child sitting across of us."

"Him?" The judge asked pointing to TJ. "You're saying that this child sitting right here set the fire?"

"That's right."

"Okay," Judge Caffery said with a sigh. "What do you want to do and how much do you have to back it up, Ms. Gabor?"

"We were hoping to charge him as an adult—"

"An adult? Who has the police report?" Both lawyer on each side handed her the report. After taking both of them the judge carefully read the reports, bringing back the silence that was in the room before. One side hoped that they would be able to do what they wanted with the trial, and the other side hoped for the opposite. "It can't be done. For him to be tried as an adult someone would have to have died in the fire. No one died. It even said in the news yesterday that those who were burned left the hospital the same day with first and second degree burns. Now, what evident do you have?"

"We managed to find the child record which shows his _extensive _history of causing mayhem at the school," Said Ms. Gabor, sitting a large thick yellow folder on the table. "We are able to get testimonials of the students who go to the same school as him, including some of his friends—"

"That's all fine and dandy," The judge said interrupting her. "But where's the evidence? The prosecution needs evidence, Ms. Gabor."

"Right. The investigators found a few things where the fire started that belongs to the child," She said. "When they took him in for questioning he even said that they belonged to him. They found his backpack, a notebook, and a few other items that are his. Those were the only things found around the area where the fire started." The judge sighed before speaking again.

"If you were to charge him as an adult you wouldn't have a case," Judge Caffery told the two sides. "But since you can only charge him as a juvenile, this is enough evidence. Is there anything else you folks want to add?"

"We would like to request that the child be taken in for a court mandated psychiatric evaluation before the trial takes place," Said Ms. Gabor.

"Request granted. You all have to go down stairs and go into room 365 to set up an appointment. You can either bring him I or have one of the more 'active' psychiatrist follow him around throughout the day. Now, I'm not the judge you all are going to present your case in front of. Keep in mind the judge you're going in front of is very strict. The case is scheduled Monday two weeks from now. If that's all then this meeting is dismissed."

**~*~IN THE CAR~*~**

'I gotta deal with this bullshit for two more weeks? What the hell is wrong with everybody?' instead of his problems ending once the preliminary hearing was over, TJ found that it was only beginning. Not only were the courts going through with the case but for the next two weeks he had to be followed around by some psychologist. It was bad enough he had to take time out of his day and get dressed up to go to the meeting but he couldn't get any time alone until the case, and even then he had to be in some courtroom filled with a bunch of people who wanted to see him put behind bars.

Out of anger he punched the back door of the car. He punched it again and again, stopping only to trade those punches for kicks. The courthouse was twenty minutes away from home, and for each of those twenty minutes he planned to let his parents know just how angry he was.

While TJ deal with the anger he felt the best way he knew how, his parents were at a loss at what to do. His lawyer had asked them to make sure that he stayed out of trouble to help their side win the case. But before they even made it out to their car they knew it was going to be an impossible task. Their son hadn't listen to a word they had said for the last eighteen months, how were they going to get him to listen all of a sudden for two weeks? Discipline had no effect on his behavior; in fact, it seemed to make things worse. They were hoping that he knew and understood the seriousness of the situation and that he would calm down on his own from that knowledge; however that didn't appear to be working at all. While they waited to create an arrangement with the psychologist, they started to wonder if there was a greater problem at hand that they couldn't handle. Maybe there was something going on in their son's head that they didn't know about and it was making him act this way. Whatever the reason was for his behavior, they hoped that this would give them some insight.

As they arrived home TJ gave one last punch to the car door, only stopping his assault on the vehicle due to his hand starting to hurt. Once the car stopped in the driveway he got out and sat on the curb of the sidewalk, seething with anger at the situation. All he wanted was a moment of peace but that didn't look like that was going to happen. The psychologist was going to start following him around tomorrow until the trial, limiting the time he had to himself. All of this upset him, and now he had to deal with the urge he had to hit something. It didn't really matter what he hit was, he just didn't want it to hurt. It had to be something he felt good hitting.

"Hey look, it's the fire starter." Looking up from his seat on the ground, TJ saw a smug looking Gordy standing in front of him. "What's the big idea, Detweiler? You trying to kill us?" This was it. This was what he needed to relieve the tension he was feeling. With a crooked smile on his face he stood up and faced the kid in front of him. Before Gordy had a chance to ask TJ what he was doing, he found himself on the ground with a pain in his jaw. Again, he wasn't able to react because within seconds TJ was on top of him sending punch after punch to his face. This action caught the attention of people passing by. The commotion coming from outside brought TJ parents outside and once they saw what their son was doing they pulled him off the battered boy below him. As Gordy ran for his life, Mr. Detweiler held his son back from running after him. Even though he was being held back, TJ continued to try and pull away. Once he was able to get free he ran down the street in the opposite direction that Gordy ran down.

While his parents yelled and shouted for him to come back, TJ continued to run down the street. He could clearly hear his parents calling after him, but at the same time he _couldn't_. The words were reaching his ears and he knew what they were saying, but they didn't stay in his head so to speak. It was as if what they were saying literally went in one ear and out the other. It would've been a strange feeling if it had never happened before, but it had and the feeling was normal.

He didn't understand that, and he also didn't understand why he was beating the crap out of Gus. He had found him as well as the rest of his former friends and starting throwing punches at the smaller boy. After a few fast and hard punches he was drawing blood. The others pulled him off and were yelling at him for doing what he did. This time he saw their mouths moving and making words but couldn't hear them at all. All he could hear was the sound of his own racing heartbeat in his ears. Not only has his heart beating a mile a minute, but his thoughts were as well. He couldn't keep up with his own thoughts, if that was possible to even understand. Before he knew it he was running down the street to find someone else to hit and beat up, still keeping the crooked smile on his face.

After pummeling what seemed to be five other boys from his class, TJ was still going on and wasn't losing any steam. He was currently punching another kid from his class on someone's lawn. Whoever he was hitting was trying to throw a few punches to defend himself, but TJ didn't feel them, not even the ones that were to his face. In another attempt at defending himself the boy under him screamed for help and that screaming got the attention of the owner of the house whose lawn the fight was taking place on.

"Detweiler, what are you doing?" Principal Prickly said coming outside of his house and seeing what was going on. Instead of responding to his question, TJ continued to throw punches. Seeing that trying to talk him to stop hitting the student on the ground was not going to work, the principal pulled TJ off the now black eyed boy allowing him to run away and escape. Like before TJ tried to pull out of his grasp to keep running, but unlike before it wasn't easy to break free. He could hear his principal telling him to calm down, but paid no mind to it has he struggled against him. Only the growing amount of exhaustion made him slow down and catch him breath, periodically making attempts to pull away as he grew tired. Suddenly everything because blurry, dark, and started to fade way. Closing his eyes he was forced into a reluctant sleep.

When the struggling finally stopped, Prickly looked at the boy he was holding back to find that he was asleep. Not questioning how TJ could even fall asleep so quickly (because after this he didn't want to think about what just happened) he carried him inside the house, laid him on the couch in the living room, and went to go call his parents.

**~*~LATER~*~**

The sound of people talking greeted TJ as he began to wake up. At first he thought that he was in his room but looking around dismissed that idea. Sitting up he listened to the voices that were coming from another room and recognized the voices that were talking: both of his parents and Principal Prickly. Coping with the massive headache he had he walked close enough to the doorway see what was going on. Unfortunately his parent saw him as he walked over and wasted no time going over and talking to him about what he had done. That, along with the headache caused TJ to not say anything until they brought something up.

"What fighting?" He asked his parents. "I didn't fight anyone."

"Yes you did! You fought someone in front of our house, and then you ran down the street and fought more people," His father told him. "You ended up fighting in front of your principal's house and that's how you ended up here!"

"Did I do that, Principal Prickly?" TJ asked.

"Yeah, you did," The principal Said. "There's a big pothole in my front yard from the fight. I was planning on relaxing today but now I have to think about fixing that."

"I don't remember doing that," He mumbled. "Sorry about that, but I don't remember. Can we go home now? I have a headache…" After his parents said thank you to his Principal for not calling the police on their son, Mr. and Mrs. Detweiler took their son home, but with something that stood out in their minds: for a few minutes their son behaved. It was only for a few minutes but they were more than aware that his temperment was completely different from the defiant one he held at home. He even apologised! That was something they haven't seen him do in a long time. Still, they shrugged it off as it being due to him just waking up and contined their way home.

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><p>…<strong>.I watched Beyond Scared straight while writing this. It's kind of eerie. <strong>

**RandalXSpinelli:…..that is crazy :D and really out there. I know how it feels to like two completely different things and then find yourself trying to merge the two. I used to think that when he grew up Vince would have the voice of Chris Rock. :) I also used to think that TJ was the antichrist. Like the literal antichrist with the 666 birthmark somewhere on his head where he couldn't see it and that something would set him off.**

**Donna nnov: Hope you got that homework done. Homework is always important, even if it doesn't make any sense (or so I've heard). ;)**

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	11. Observations

**Okay, since last chapter was so incredibly…..what's the word? Out of nowhere. I think that's the right word. Since last chapter was incredibly out of nowhere and surprised my reviewers, I'm going to tone it down a bit in this chapter. Just a bit. The next chapter is going to start the court proceedings and now I'm sure I can squeeze it into two and a half chapters to three. And after that we get to the good part that I've been wanting to write for so long!**

**The psychologist that was said to come and watch him until the trial looks like Mr. Simmons from Hey Arnold. He was the nicest teacher and he always struck me as a person that would go into child psychology. ;) **

**Lastly, has anyone here gotten their wisdom teeth pulled? I might have to get mine pulled 'cause I can't reach them with a toothbrush to bush them properly and I need to know what it's like. Do they put you under or use laughing gas or something? I've heard stories of people struggling to eat and close their mouths afterwards and that kind of scares me.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"What do you mean he beat up eight kids?"<p>

With the trial scheduled for two weeks and the judge being known for her strict punishments (She's even been called the Judge Judy of Third Street), a good defense was absolutely necessary. That meant working on it right away without hesitation, so the following day after the preliminary trial Mr. Wilson came over to start working. The first thing he asked was if they made sure TJ stayed out of trouble and when he was given the answer it was more than apparent by the expression on his face that he was beginning to get stressed by the situation.

"When we got home he was quiet for a few minutes and then there was a lot of noise coming from outside," Mrs. Detweiler explained. "When we went to see what was going on he was punching another boy. WE pulled him off but then he took off running down the street and ended up at his principal's house."

"Does he know the severity of the situation?" Mr. Wilson asked. "Doesn't he know how important his actions are to this case?"

"We told him how important it was," Said Mr. Detweiler. "But he doesn't listen. We've tried every punishment we could think of but nothings worked. If anything it's making him worse."

"Let's just hope that the prosecution doesn't find out about this," The lawyer groaned. "That's the last thing we need. Let's see, what else…..right, the psychologist is supposed to come over some time in the next hour."

~*~**MEANWHILE**~*~

TJ was bored. Really, really bored. It was raining outside and since he didn't feel like getting wet for anything his choices were limited. It seemed that lately he wasn't able to do what he really wanted and it irritated him. Right now he felt like practicing his baseball swing, but the rain stopped that from happening. Then again there was plenty of room in the house…

Grabbing his aluminum bat and a bucket of baseballs from the corner he went downstairs into the living room to find that no one was sitting there. Perfect. Standing on the couch he tossed one ball up and swung the bat sending the ball flying, breaking the window. Not stopping to see his parent's response, he continued the acting, breaking anything that was breakable.

"Maybe if the psychologist finds something wrong with him we could use that to our advantage," Mr. Wilson said as he heard the windows breaking. "Maybe it'll be severe enough that we can say that he can't control what he does and can't truly be blamed for the fire. No doubt that if something's found the prosecution is going to say that he should be put away because of it…..have you folks tried to get him some help?" Before that question could be answered the doorbell rang. Opening the door the two parents were met with a 30-something year-old male.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Mack. I'm from The Diamond Ranch Academy," He said. "You all called about someone coming over and seeing if your son was right for the Academy."

"Oh, right," Said Mrs. Detweiler. "With everything going on we must've forgotten. Come in."

"So where is the child?" Mr. Mack asked as he entered the house. The question didn't need to be answered because after a few steps in he saw the reason he was there hitting baseballs while standing on the couch. "This would be him correct?"

"That's right," His mother said, not sure whether or not she should feel embarrassed or angry at her son's behavior. "TJ, this man from the Diamond Ranch Academy came to talk to you."

"I already said I'm not going," He said, not taking his focus off of his swing. "Tell him to leave."

"It'll only be a few minutes," Mr. Mack said. "Then you can uh, get back to you practice."

"God! Fine," T said throwing the bat on the ground and heading up the stairs. "Always gotta do a bunch of shit I doing wanna do…." While the two of them headed up stairs the two parents went back into the kitchen.

"We were planning on sending him to the Diamond Ranch Academy to help him," Mr. Detweiler said. "It's a reform school. But with this case we're not sure that he'll even get a chance to go."

"That's okay. It still shows you _trying_ to change his behavior," Said Mr. Wilson said, writing down a few down. "Perhaps we can bargain with the judge. Instead of juvenile hall he could go there. It's a long shot but it's better than nothing."

"Let's say hypothetically that he's convicted of this. How much time his he facing?"

"That's a good question. They can only keep him in juvenile detention until his 18th birthday so five years at the least. But I'm seen kids serve time in juvie until 18 and then transfer over into jail, so that can happen." Suddenly there was a loud scream followed by crashes and thumps coming from upstairs. The two parents ran upstairs in time to see a now disheveled Mr. Mack run out of their son's room and close the door behind him, pressing his back against it to make sure it doesn't open.

"What happened?" Asked Mrs. Detweiler. "Are you okay?"

"Your son is not welcome at the Academy!" Yelled Mr. Mack. "He will not be attending! Now or ever!"

"But he really needs some help—"

"We cannot help him!" Mr. Mack said, walking away from the door. "You don't need us! You need an exorcist!" With that he stormed out of the house. Wanted to exactly what had happened they went into their son's room to find TJ siting on his bed, tossing a baseball between his hands.

"TJ what did you do?" His father asked him.

"I didn't do anything," He said. "That wasn't even me. That was Alex."

"Who is Alex?"

"A friend of mine," He told them walking out of his room and downstairs. "Where's this shrink that's supposed to follow me around? I have things to do you know!" Sitting on the couch TJ went over the things he had planned to do today. First he had planned to fix that pothole Prickly said he left in his yard. Maybe on the way there he could see the kids he beat up yesterday, or so the adults say. He could really remember that he did that but is he went out and wailed on some kids then he wanted to see the aftermath. He just wanted to get out of the house; it had broken glass everywhere.

The sound of the doorbell brought him out of his thoughts. Walking to the door he heard that his parents had already answered and was talking to whoever it was. Listening in he heard them talking about a psychologist from the court. Thinking that it was the person he had been waiting for all day he made himself seen.

"Is this the shrink?" He asked the three of them.

"That would be me," The man standing in the doorway said. "My name's Mr. Simmons and I'm going to be following you around today."

"You're not gonna try and stop me from doing anything are you?"

"Well no…"

"Good. Come on, I have places to go," He said going out the door.

"Be careful around him," Mrs. Detweiler told Mr. Simmons. "We just had someone come and talk to him and they ran out the door. We don't know what he did."

**~*~LATER~*~**

Being followed around proved to be much more annoying to TJ than he had anticipated. The overwhelming feeling of being watched wouldn't go away because it wasn't _just _a feeling; he knew that he **was** being watched. What was this guy trying to find out anyway? I did help that he was quiet and wasn't much of a disturbance but it still bugged him. Oh well, as long as he didn't bother him too much he should be much of an issue. But turning the corner was going to introduce a minor setback to getting to his destination. Upon turning that fateful corner he ran into his old friends. He could see the large bruise over Gus's left eye and connect the vents of yesterday to that.

"Damn dude," He said. "Somebody fucked you up. Hope you feel better 'cause that looks like it hurts. And don't even blame me 'cause you could've ran. Like Forrest Gump. But no, you had to stay and get fucked up. I don't even remember doing it so don't pin it on me. You might be making it up." Not wanting to hear what they have to say (he was sure it was going to be about how 'bad' of a person he was) he continued on his way with Mr. Simmons following. At least now he knew he beat up Gus, the only question now was who else. There was list of kids at Third Street he would've liked to beat up and wondered if he actually did. It kind of sucked that he couldn't remember. If he did he would spend the whole day reminiscing about it. But that didn't happen and he had to move onto the net thing he wanted to do.

"That's a really big pothole," He said stopping in front of Prickly's house. Right there on the ground was a large spot of dirt sticking out from the entire lawn. "That must've been where the fight was." Looking around he saw that there was large clumps of dirt and topsoil scattered across the lawn. Assuming that it was from the fight as well he started taking the clumps of dirt and filling the pothole with them. Patting it down he found that it filled the pothole perfectly and finished it off by covering it with the topsoil. "That looks good enough. It better be too; my hands are dirty." Standing up, he brushed his hands off and knocked on the front door.

"What is it _now_, Detweiler?" Prickly asked when he saw who was standing outside of his door. "Isn't ruining my lawn enough for you?"

"I tried to fix it," TJ said. "I really did. It's not like I ignored it. Can we come in?"

"We?"

"Yeah," He said pointing to the psychologist behind him. "He' from the court and has to follow me around for the next two weeks to 'evaluate' me or something. He has to go everywhere I go. He seems nice enough I guess…."

"You know, with all the fighting you did yesterday I find it very had to trust you."

"But I don't even remember it," He said. "I remember pieces of it last night but most if it was a blur. But I promise to try to not do it again in your house. Can I come in?"

"I don't know why I keep letting you in," The Principal said letting him come in.

"'Cause I'm your favorite student, that's why," Said TJ. "So what were you doing before I came here?"

"I was going to do something but now that you're here I think you're more suited for the job."

"And that would be…..?"

"Mowing the backyard."

"No way! How are you going to ask me to mow your backyard? I'm a guest here! That's no fair! I bet it's probably one of those old push mowers just because they cut lower. And then it just rained and the grass is probably high too. I came over here to relax not work!" He ranted. "Where's the mower?" He followed his Principal out into the garage where there was in fact an old push mower. Groaning, he pushed it out into the backyard and grudgingly began to push it around the yard.

"So you're supposed to be evaluating him," Principal Prickly said to the psychologist. "What do you think so far?"

"Who, me?" Mr. Simmons said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Well i only started an hour ago, but I can already see the incredible amount of deviance he's displaying. I barely came into his house and I could see the distress he's causing his parents. But as soon as he came over here the hostility went away almost immediately and that intrigues me. He appears to have taken a shining to you. I can't make any diagnosis after just one day but if can watch him for the next two weeks I'll be able to."

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><p><strong>I really like Mr. Simmons. Nice guy, bad judge of character though. I'm going to ask this one more time but I need nicknames! More specifically I need one me. s for a quiet but semi-dangerous boy, a bully that killed someone, a short-haired badass queen bee, and a few others I can't think about now.<strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: That sure would make sense. I always thought it stopped his horns from growing in :P. Like…..okay here's the whole story I had going on a while ago. And this is going to be long. Since I had him be the antichrist in my first mental fan fiction, I had it that he lived a life before the one he had. Like in his first life he was raised in hell with his father (Satan) where he trained to take over the world. But he got too strong too early so Satan turned him back into a baby and took away his 'demon-like traits' (basically taking his horns, tail, fangs, claws, black hair, red eyes, and evil personality, gave him the hat to keep his horns from growing back in.) and put him on the list of babies to be born and that would be like how he got to where he is now. And then whenever he started puberty those traits would start to come back. Also, if you pay close attention when watching a few episodes he's his most 'evilest' when he doesn't have his hat on. Principal for a Day and Economics of the Playground are perfect examples. As for him have multiple personalities….that'll be discussed next chapter or the one after that. Most likely next chapter 'cause there's a number things I have in mind. Man that was long…**

**Donna Nnov: Yes, I have figured out what's wrong with him. It's actually a number of things and it'll be talked about in one of the next few chapters, promise. And as for Lawson dishing out some well-deserved punishment, he'll get what's coming to him, promise you that too.**

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	12. ODD

**Court proceedings are either very interesting or extremely boring. I hope to make the court proceedings in this story very interesting. Partially because we are getting a diagnosis!**

**How is everyone Christmas and holidays going? I hope it's good. I would've had this chapter up a lot earlier but I got Mario Kart 7 and it did not want to get out of my hands, but I got it out just enough to write his for you all!**

**Have any of you out there ever want to slap a character for what they're doing in your own story even though you're making them do it? I've felt like this since I started writing this story. I just want to grab TJ by the collar, raise my hand and yell 'TASTE THE BACK OF MY PALM!' and deliver a nice healthy dose of whoop-ass. If only…. :P If only…**

**I feel like some if this is stereotypical courtroom talk that only takes place on TV. Oh well.**

**Read on!**

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><p>Out of his ten years of working as psychologist, this case promised to be one that would stick with Mr. Simmons long after it was over. For two weeks Mr. Simmons followed TJ around, noting how he interacted with his parents, other students, his Principal, and even how he behaved when he was alone. All of this was for making a diagnosis, if there was one to be made at all. In his observations he witnessed two distinct dispositions in his patient and the both of them were very interesting to him. The one that showed the most was the hostile, disobedient, and unruly aspect of his personality that frustrated his parents and peers to no end. It was no question that that was why we he was there to watch him. The other half of his personality was the nice, calm, and overall ideal side that only showed when he was around Principal Prickly. Why TJ had the extreme contract in behavior was question that Mr. Simmons wanted to answer, so he looked for outside help. When he could, Mr. Simmons asked TJ's parents, old friends, and principal questions about what they thought about how he was acting, how it affected them, and how different was it from a few years ago. The answers offered little insight, but that little bit of insight helped him immensely with his diagnosis. The only person he didn't ask was TJ himself, but he was getting to that today. The last day he was to spend observing the boy was the day of the trial inside of a room in the courthouse. The trial was to take place in few hours, and with this last bit of time together he was supposed to make a definitive diagnosis as well as ask him more specific questions using a recorder that was to be played in court. Mr. Simmons sat across from TJ with a recording sitting in the middle of the table. From what he could make out, TJ was less than willing to be there. And he was right.<p>

TJ just wanted this whole this to be over with. Two weeks of being followed around and observed, being stuck in the kitchen with his parents and lawyers, and having to go to court afterwards in a very uncomfortable suit was not what he wanted to do. He was just waiting for that jury to say 'not guilty' so he could get back to business. How dare these people blame him for that fire? And on top of that, how dare they make him do all this stuff that took time away from he wanted to do? Well, it was not like they could find him guilty for it if he didn't do it. Looking up from the coin he was playing with in his hands he looked up to see Mr. Simmons writing a few things down on a note pad. Today was the last day he would be followed around, that that made him very happy. He just wanted to answer whatever questions the psychologist had to ask so he could get out of there.

"Are you ready, TJ?" Mr. Simmons asked, looking up from what he was writing.

"Mm-hmm," TJ mumbled. "Sure." Pressing the record button on the recorder, Mr. Simmons started to read from the questions he had in front of him.

"What do you think about being blamed for the fire?" Asked the psychologist.

"Mr. Simmons," TJ said with a long exaggerated sigh. "Are you expecting me to lie?"

"No. I'm hoping that you'll tell me the truth."

"Listen. You seem like a nice guy, so I respect you. And because I respect you, I trust you, sir," He told him. "I don't want you to twist my words around into something that they don't mean. When you ask me these questions, I'm going to trust you enough to tell you the absolute truth. Okay?"

"That's just fine with me," Said Mr. Simmons. "So, will you answer my first question?"

"Yeah. I think it's bogus. If I'm going to get blamed for something, then I better be the one who did it, and I didn't do it. But of course they would blame me, just because I've been having fun by playing pranks on them. They're only blaming me because they want to get rid of me and that's not going to happen."

"About those pranks, why do you do them?"

"It's fun," He said. "That's the only answer I could give you for that."

"Do you know how much it hurts the other students when you to those things and how bad it is for you to do them?"

"Ha, Principal Prickly asked me that same question," TJ said. "Yes and no. It's kind of confusing, even for me. I know it's bad and that I shouldn't do it. I can write you a long list right now with every reason why I shouldn't do what I do. But it just….okay it's like this. Let's say that the reasons why I shouldn't do something is a document on a computer. You save it, close it, and put in a folder where you know where to find it. Then you get up and leave for a while. When you comeback you open a new file getting ready to do something but you need the information from the folder from earlier so you go to open it. You find it, click on it, but it won't open. You keep clicking on it, but no matter what it won't open. So you have to do what you were going to do without the information in that document form earlier. Once you're done with your new document, save, and close it, you go back to the document from before, and it can open now. And you can't figure out why. It's like that. Do you get it?"

"Yes. You're saying that while you do those things, why you shouldn't do them don't cross your mind."

"Yeah, that's it! You're the first person to understand that! Thanks."

"I'm glad I could help," Mr. Simmons said. "Now, I've noticed that you acted differently around you parents and your principal. Could you tell me why?"

"I dunno," Said TJ. "I think it's 'cause I respect the guy. Not that I don't respect my own parents. It's a different kind of respect, I guess. I respect my parents for giving me a home and food and all that cheesy stuff. I respect Prickly because he's kind of a role model. I look up to him, so the respect there is different. We have a lot in common, actually. Not like with my dad. Dad is always so serious; always has been, even when I was little. I guess he kind of fills that role for me. I never thought about it like that before…"

"That's a really good insight there," Mr. Simmons told him. "Thinking about relationships on a deeper level is really good for you. One last question and you can go. Did you set the fire?"

"No," He said. "I didn't. That's the simplest answer there is. Can a go now?"

"Yes, you can go now." Breathing a sigh of relief TJ stood up and walked to the door to leave. Before opening the door we turned back to Mr. Simmons.

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" TJ asked him.

"I don't think there's anything _wrong_ with anybody," He said. "And I don't think there's anything _wrong _with you. I believe for some reason the way you think is different from those around you. Does that help?"

"Mm-hmm," The Boy mumbled before going out the door. Sitting on the benches outside of the door where his parents who were waiting to bring him inside the courtroom. The room he had just come out of was sound proof so he didn't worry about them eavesdropping. Looking at the clock that hung on the wall he saw that a lot more time had passed than what it felt like. The trial would begin in about twenty minutes now. After going down a set of stairs they made it to the courtroom. The seats in the gallery were packed full of parents of the other kids from Third Street as well as the kids themselves. His lawyer and the plaintiff's lawyer were already at their respective tables waiting for the judge to come in. Before he came in the room he saw a few people sitting on benches outside, including his former friends and few other students from his class. Sitting down at the table he heard Mr. Wilson and his parents talk about what was going to happen once the trail began. Most of it didn't interest him.

"All rise," The Bailiff standing in front of the judge's bench said. "For the honorable Judge Shore." Everyone in the courtroom stood up as the door near the judge's bench opened and Judge Shore walked in. She was at least in her fifties and her ace showed each one of those years. Sitting down in her seat she waved for everyone to sit down.

"Alright," Judge Shore said. "Who wants to begin?"

"We will, Your Honor," The prosecuting lawyer, Ms. Gabor said as she stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we all have kids somewhere in our family. And it goes without saying that we wish the best for those children. We want them to be successful, and in order to do that they have to go to school. And when they go to school, we expect that the school that they go to is safe, danger-free, with little interruptions to distract from their studies while they're in class. So imagine if every day that child came home after a day where _**one **_student makes that impossibility. Imagine if your child came home with something in their hair, an injury, or is disturbed because of what _**one**_ student decided to go, simply for the fun of it. That, ladies and gentlemen was the daily experience of the students at Third Street School. Every day for the last year and a half they were the unfortunate victims of the pranks and plots conjured by that child sitting at that table." She paused to point at TJ who was trying his very best to not fall asleep. "Ruthless pranks and plot created by him plagued the lives of the students at Third Streets. But I can't speak for those students; they have to speak for themselves. And who else better for that then a few of his now former friends? I call Ashley Spinelli to the witness stand."

'That would explain why they're all sitting outside,' TJ thought to himself. 'Ha ha, _**Ashley**_." Turning around in his seat he watched as Spinelli walked through the doors, escorted by an officer. After being put under oath and sitting down in the witness stand the prosecution continued.

"Do you know the defendant?" Ms. Gabor asked her.

"Yeah."

"How long have you known him?"

"As far back as I can remember," Said Spinelli. "We became friends in kindergarten."

"So that's long enough to say that you were friends," Said Ms. Gabor. "Right?"

"Right," She answered. "We _were_ friends."

"And why aren't the two of you friends now?"

"Because he kept hurting us with his pranks," Spinelli said. "He plays pranks all the time; it's his thing. But then he started to prank us too and the pranks got really mean."

"Would you care to tell us about a few of those pranks?"

"A few weeks ago he spread itching and sneezing powers all over the playground by putting it in over inflated balls," She explained. "It got on everything and everyone. Then he did something to the desk and made them blow up that same day. Then a week later he infested the school with rats and cockroaches, electrified the fence around the playground, gave the kindergarteners paint guns to fire on everyone, blew up the Ashley's clubhouse and the digger's filled holes and used fireworks to spread paint across the playground. That was after we got back at him for trying another prank the week before that."

"So over time those acts became more and more dangerous," Ms. Gabor said, acing the rest of the courtroom. "And with them becoming more dangerous, it makes perfect sense, and is almost expected that he would take it another step further and do something deadly, such as starting the fire especially with the last prank. In the police report it says you were burned in the fire," She said handing the judge a copy of the police report. "Can you show us the burn?"

"Yeah," Spinelli said as she rolled up the sleeve to her dress exposing the scar that ran up her entire arm left there from the burn.

"You see that, ladies and gentlemen?" Ms. Gabor said. "That is the result of an out of control child. You can step down now, Ms. Spinelli. With behavior like this that will not go away, one would wonder exactly _why_ the child was acting like this in the first place. This ongoing antisocial behavior has to be a sign of something mentally wrong with him."

"Objection," Mr. Wilson said. "The prosecution has no proof of this and is suggesting something purely based on assumptions."

"Your honor, we requested that he child be evaluated in the two weeks before the trial," Ms. Gabor explained. "The psychologist is here and I was getting ready to allow him to discuss his findings."

"Alright," Said the judge. "Where is he?"

"I'm right here, ma'am," Mr. Simmons said standing up from his seat.

Are you ready to tell us about what you've found out?"

"Yes I am your honor," He said. "Can I begin?"

"Go ahead."

"Okay, this is going to be long so bear with me here. Like Ms. Gabor said I was asked to follow TJ around for the two weeks before this trial and there was a lot to find out," He began. "He has ODD. That was the first thing I noticed. ODD stands for Oppositional Defiant disorder which is an ongoing pattern of anger guided disobedience, hostilely, and defiant behavior that goes beyond the bounds of normal behavior that is expected in a child. All children usually disobey and act out every now and then; a little back-talking here and some getting into trouble there is normal and is to be expected. That behavior is fixed with discipline. But when the behavior continues and gets worse despite multiple attempts of punishments by the parents and last longer than 6 months it become ODD. Some of the symptoms that I observed were excessive arguing with adults, often questioning rules, refusing to comply with adult requests and rules, deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people, frequent anger and resentment, mean and hateful talking when upset, and revenge seeking. Like Ms. Gabor said his behavior is disrupting the school lives of the other students which is another characteristic of ODD. As far as him being as she described as 'an out of control child,' it's fifty-fifty on that. On one hand his environment made him like this. One the other, he should be able to know right from wrong. But that's not what I'm really concerned about. What I'm concerned about is the developing into a bigger problem.

"ODD is a precursor to Conduct Disorder, which is a precursor for Antisocial Personality Disorder better known as Sociopathy. A child with ODD has a 53% change of developing Conduct Disorder if it goes untreated, and he's already showing signs of that. Just punishing him if he did start the fire won't help. It's only make things worse. There are treatments and therapies available to help him. What I have here on the projector," He paused to push a button that made an image appear on the white screen in the corner of the room. "Is a picture of the brain. Right here on the big spot that's lit up, that's the spot that lights up when were about to make a decision. And over here in the little spot that's lit up is the area that lights up when we think about cause and effect. That little spot right there isn't turning on for him. He knows that he shouldn't do what he does but not when he's doing it. It's like your rushing to do something but you forget a vital part of that, only that happens all the time for him. In a way it's out of his control. But what I want you all to remember is that he is thirteen years old; his brain is still growing. It might've not finished build the so-called 'bridge' to make that connection. I have seen kids who did what he does and it spontaneously stopped as they became older and I've seen kids who turn out to be serial killers. What I'm trying to say here is that punishing him the way the prosecution wants to isn't going to help at all.

"I also noticed this almost obsession TJ has with fire. I watched him stare at a lit fireplace and play with a lighter in his hand with fascination a child would have with a hobby or something else they like to do. If he did set the fire then he could be a child pyromaniac which is a separate issue in itself; I don't think I have to go into more detail than that for you all to know what that would implicate. All in all, He as Oppositional Defiance Disorder, is developing Conduct Disorder, and has the possibility of being a child Pyromaniac."

"As you all can see, even without knowing with diagnosis one would assume that something was going wrong in his head," Ms. Gabor said to the jury. "And if one could do that, then their actions must be at an extreme. An extreme that puts lives in danger such as setting a school full of children on fire. When the investigators located where the fire started a backpack belonging to the defendant was found nearby. No other items were found. Now before you all say, 'that doesn't mean anything,' I want to call another one of his friends to tell us a little more. I call Vince LaSalle to the witness stand."

"God, she just keeps talking," TJ mumbled. "It's time for her to shut the fuck up, seriously." He was quickly hushed by his lawyer before anyone could hear him. He watched as Vince, like Spinelli, was put under oath and sat down in the witness stand."

"Mr. LaSalle, do you believe Mr. Detweiler started the fire?" Ms. Gabor asked.

"Yeah," Vince said.

"And why do you believe that?"

"Because the recess before the fire started he said he would set it on fire so we wouldn't bother him anymore. Then earlier that day he was playing with a lighter in class. And a couple weeks before that he said on top of the junglegym that if everyone wanted him to do something when he didn't have anything to do then he would set it on fire."

"So he said that he would," She told the jury. "He said that he would set a fire, ladies and gentlemen. Is there any other reason you think he set that fire?"

"Yeah. I don't know if anyone else in the class saw it, but I saw him walking to and away from the side of the school a little before the fire started."

"The side of the school where the garbage bins are?"

"Yes."

"That's quite a coincidence since that was the area where the fire started. No one else was seen walking to and from there. No one else gave everyone a threat to do something that happened soon after. No other student made like at school of living hell and hurt them. Nd no other student is capable of setting a school on fire. Like Mr. Simmons said, his ODD is becoming something that is putting other's lives in danger and we don't want our children exposed to that, do we? He is danger to others and is not safe in the general public. A juvenile delinquent such as him needs to in a facility where he isn't a threat to those around him; a place like this would be called a juvenile detention center. Now I'm not saying that I don't care if he gets help or not; I'm not saying that at all. But this is a case of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. That ladies and gentlemen is my case."

"I was wondering when you were going to stop talking," Judge Shore said. "Bailiff, what time is it?"

"4:30, ma'am." The bailiff said.

"That late? Well I was hoping to hear some of the defense today but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. We'll meet here tomorrow same time. Court is adjourned." She said before hitting the gavel.

"I gotta come back for more of this stuff tomorrow? I can't get a break can I?" TJ said as the court began to empty. Standing up he headed outside the room as well to meet the small group of peers sitting outside and talking amongst themselves. "What's the big idea saying that I started the fire?"

"Because you did," Said Spinelli. "You told us and everyone else that you would and then it happened!"

"Just because I say something that doesn't mean I'm gonna do it," He snapped. "You don't beat up everyone you threaten do you?"

"No," She said. "But I'm not the one who was playing with a lighter in class!"

"I saw you walk away from where the fire started," Said Vince. "How do you explain that?"

"I walk from that area every day! That doesn't mean anything! You guys just want to get rid of me for the other stuff!"

"Well after being burned I think any one would want you to be very far away from them," Spinelli said. "You didn't even say you were sorry for that!"

"I'm not going to say sorry for something that I didn't do! I suggest you go find whoever did start the fire and harass them!"

"I did. He's standing right in front of me!" She snapped. "You know what we think? We think you started it, and your lying about it. We think you're a danger to everyone around you and that you need to be locked away so you can't hurt anyone else."

"Yeah whatever," He said as he started to walk away. "See you guys in hell."

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><p><strong>What do you guy's think about the diagnosis? Do you think it makes sense? I hope so. Feedback is welcome. Next chapter will be the defense!<strong>

**I'm thinking of writing another King BobXTJ fic just 'cause I've fallen in love with the pairing and so have a lot of people, surprisingly. I just don't know what it should be about. **

**Donna Nnov: I should invest in a baby name book, shouldn't I? :P As a poor college student I'll have to stick with the websites like names books as a replacement. I didn't use MPD (although I considered it before I wrote this story) but something else that took me forever to find. But I did kinda sneak it in there with 'Alex' in the last chapter. **

**RandallXSpinelli: Mr. Simmons was the sweetest teacher ever :D He's like the Ms. Grodke of Hey Arnold. **

**Please Review!**


	13. Father and Son

**Okay I have some news to share about another story of mine; to be exact, news about **_**Time Heals Us All. **_**That story is making me mad. I really kind of want it to get off of my shoulders so I can focus my energy on other stories that I have planned. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to finish it up much quicker than I had wanted to before. Now that I'm this far into that story, it seems like an unnecessary sequel so I'm going to wrap it up and get it out of my away.**

**In other news, do you guys think TJ started that fire? I was hoping on having it so that the reader is kind of a 'member of the jury' to decide on their own. On that same note we get a verdict today, as well as a huge fwuffy (yes I spelled it that way on purpose) moment following that verdict. Only to be crushed the following day. **

**Um, there are some offensive words used in here so brace for impact when that happens. It's not the usual swearing that's in here.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"We have to plea bargain."<p>

With the prosecution having a stronger case than what was expected, Mr. Wilson was beginning to feel the first stages of panic. He could see by the look on of some of the people in the jury's faces that they had already made up their minds about everything. On top of that there wasn't a very strong defense that he could make out of this, so they were pretty much screwed and the only way to lessen the punishment that was going to bestowed upon TJ was to change his plea from not guilty to guilty and say that he did start the fire. His parents were in favor of the idea; less time in juvenile detention was good. But what they were in favor was didn't matter; he was TJ's lawyer, it was his case, and he makes the final decision when it comes to this.

"I can already tell that we're going to lose," Mr. Wilson said. "With our weak defense they are going to have no trouble putting him away. If we plea bargain then we could at least get a lesser sentence."

"I'm not saying I did something that I didn't do," TJ shouted from the living room. "That's bullshit. If I didn't do it then I'm not going to say that I did. Just give me a chance to tell them what really happened, even though that's YOUR job."

"Listen folks," Mr. Wilson said. "I have this fear that if he's put on the stand then he's going to ruin his own defense. There is no way that he's going to get off without some form of punishment. WE could try and say that instead of a juvenile detention center he could serve his time in a juvenile psychiatric hospital for the ODD."

"Because being around a bunch of psychos is much better than juvie," said TJ. "Especially with MY personality of leading people. That's a really good idea. I'll lead a revolution with everyone in there. We'll take over the country. Occupy USA. Kill all betrayers. What's your next idea?"

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Mr. Wilson said, closing his briefcase and leaving.

"I have the worst lawyer ever," TJ mumbled. "Should've gotten Phoenix Wright; that guy is boss. But no, I had to get this guy. This is what my trust fund is being used for. Dear God I need a drink…." Getting off of the couch he headed into the kitchen. "Where do you keep the wine in here? You know what, never mind. You're not gonna answer that…." Giving himself a mental slap he went upstairs and into his room. Once he locked the door he kneeled down near the window. The floor board near the window was loose so he used it to hide things he didn't want his parents to know he had. Lifting it up he found what he need: the last bottle of beer. When his parents found out about his drink he knew that any day they would be searching his room, so he used the space in the floor to hide them. It was perfect. Only he knew it was there, and who would think of checking the floor for loose areas. Twisting the top open he started to finish off his last drink.

'If I have to go to juvie then I'm drinking before I go,' He thought. 'I'm not going to waste a perfectly fine drink.' Soon the familiar warmth from the alcohol rushed through him. From experience, whether that was good or bad, he knew that one bottle was only going to make him feel woozy. He still want to do something before court tomorrow. Preferably something fun.

'Where is that thing….?' He asked himself as he stumbled across the room. After digging through a pile of clothes on the floor he found what he was looking for: a wrench. 'Okay, I have the wrench. Now…step two. I gotta rush this one….' Peeking outside his room he looked for any sign of his parents coming up the stairs or being the hallway. With everything all clear he dashed down the stairs and out the door.

**~*~TEN MINUTES LATER~*~**

"I swear to God if they blame me for this I'm going to bust a tit. They did this to themselves, not even my fault. But they would blame me though, just because I hate them, made their lives miserable at school and have a wrench in my hand. That doesn't mean crap," TJ said to himself. "Maybe I was going to use the wrench to crack their skulls open, not this. They don't know! But they assume, and when they assume they're making an ass out of themselves. Besides they shouldn't leave their bikes outside if they didn't want this to happen. These bikes could've been stolen, or run over by a car, or pissed on by a dog, or dissolved in acid rain. But at least it's still 'intact.' Think of this as a public service announcement." Standing up from his spot on the ground, TJ walked away from the jumbled mess of metal parts that used to be bikes.

"TJ what the hell did you do to our bikes?" Turning around he could see his former friends coming out and seeing what was left of their beloved bikes. To say that they were angry would've been an understatement.

"It LOOKS like I took them apart," TJ told them. "Can I go now? I have shit to do and you guys are killing the buzz I have going on here."

"You're not going anywhere until you put them back together!" Vince said.

"Yeah right, Prince. How about you all do that, and I walk away from you all? Sounds like a good idea…."

"No, how about you put them back together before we make you do it?" Spinelli threaten.

"Spinelli," He said turning around to face them, before turning the corner. "For Christ's sake stop being such a twat."

"_**WHAT?**_" Before he could feel the wrath that was about to be bestowed upon him, TJ walked away from the scene. That alone wouldn't have been enough to stop it from happening but Spinelli was being, grudgingly, held back by the others. TJ wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but not to get away from her. He left the house to head over another house where it felt more like home than at his own house.

**~*~TIME LAPSE~*~**

"….dude, what the fuck…?" When he arrived at Prickly's house TJ expected to go in the usual way: through one of the open windows. But he couldn't find and open or unlocked window. That itself wasn't a problem because he could just knock on the door to get in. So he decided to do that. He was stop however by a note on the front door. Reading it he found out that the windows were closed and locked because Prickly had went out to go play golf and wouldn't be back for the rest of the day.

"Looks like I'm going golfing…"

**~*~LATER~*~**

"How did I know you would show up, Detweiler?" Principal Prickly asked as he watched TJ approach him.

"'Cause I always show up," TJ said. "But a better question would be why you didn't come to the trial yesterday. Everyone was there; I thought you would show up too, since it was your school that caught on fire and everything."

"I wasn't aware that I was supposed to come," the principal said, focusing on his shot.

"Well you don't _have_ to come. But I could use the support," He said. "I'm pretty sure my own lawyer thinks I did it and has given up on defending me."

"You're not going to leave this alone until I agree to come are you?"

"You know me well enough to know what the answer to that question is, sir."

"Alright, fine. I'll come tomorrow, but be quiet. You're going to mess up my shot."

"You know what I never understood about this game?" TJ asked, ignoring the request to be quiet. "When you hit the ball and it goes flying and lands, how do you know where it landed? It's so small and this area is so big. Is there like some secret golfers technique for finding it?"

"If I say yes, will you be quiet?" TJ nodded. "Then yes, we have secret technique only known to golfers. Now because you choose to mess up shot horribly, you're going to be my caddy. Let's go, I want to finish this game before it rains."

**~*~THE NEXT DAY~*~**

The next day at court promised to be a long one for TJ. Not only was his lawyer less than enthusiastic about the outcome of this case, but he had no idea what was going to happen. The court was packed, even more so than yesterday. Since the defense was weak, he expected the day to be a little shorter than the last. If real court proceedings were like anything he had saw on TV, the jury would be going back in their secret room to discuss whether or not he set the school on fire. Then there was that ultra-strict Judge to worry about.

He was barely paying attention when his lawyer called for him to go to the stand. He watched the frustrated look on his lawyer face as he tried to come up with any question to ask that might help his case.

"Why don't you tell us what exactly happened the day the school caught on fire?" Mr. Wilson asked him.

"You mean what happened that day or what I did that day?" TJ asked him.

"What _you_ did that day," Mr. Wilson clarified. "Before the fire."

"I was smoking," He said. "At the old abandoned playground way at the back of the school. Then when I was done smoking that, I went to go find my backpack that I left by the side of the school earlier. I found a two bottles of beer under my bed the night before and I brought one to school to drink, but I didn't want to bring it in the school 'cause Principal Prickly knew about me drinking before and he checked my bag sometimes. So I went over to the side of the school and I found it. But then there was this kid there, and I know he didn't go to Third Street 'cause I haven't seen him before…..and he had a lighter…you know what? I bet he started the fire. He had a bottle of what smelled like gas near him and he told me to get out of there before I got hurt. And I told him if I wasn't high I would beat him up, then I took my bottle and left. I think I forgot to take my backpack with me. I went back to the abandoned playground and went I came back out later I saw the school on fire and went home."

"And what did the person you saw at the side of the school look like?" Asked Mr. Wilson.

"See, that's what I don't get," TJ said, leaning back in his chair. "He looked like me back in fifth grade. He was a few inches shorter than me, and brown hair like mine but his was a little darker, baggy blue jeans, a green jersey with while stripes around the sleeves, and a red backwards hat."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm under oath, if that's good enough for you," He said. "He even had freckles too. And the thing is, you would've been able to tell if I did it. See, if I was going to light the school on fire, I would chain the doors shut so they couldn't get out, then put something on the windows so they couldn't get out that way either. When I do a prank, I intend for everyone to get pranked—"

"Okay, okay," Said Mr. Wilson. "You can step down now. Um, as you can see your honor, whether or not he started the fire is up for debate. But what shouldn't e up for debate is what should be done as far as punishment. With a diagnosis of ODD it's safe to say that his behavior is only going to continue if the proper steps are taken. A juvenile detention center is not the appropriate place for him to be taken. With ODD a more appropriate place might be a juvenile psychiatric hospital. At least there we can guarantee that he would get treated to prevent anything like this from happening again."

'Whose side is this guy on?' TJ thought to himself.

"And….that's pretty much my defense, ladies and gentlemen," The lawyer said.

"Alright then," Judge Shore then. "The jury will now deliberate. If a verdict isn't reached in the next two hours you all are free to go home. Court is in recess." She said, followed by the banging of the gavel.

"You are the worse lawyer I could possibly get," TJ said to Mr. Wilson. "And what kind of defense was that? Either way I'm screwed!"

"Listen here, you little shit," Mr. Wilson hissed. "I, like the rest of the town, think you did it. I tried my best to defend you, but between talking to me like I have to get a damn about what happens to you, I couldn't care less. I hope they put you away for a long time." By the time he was done talking the two of them saw people start to come back in the court as well as the jury and Judge. Once everyone was back in their seats the Judge spoke up.

"That was quick," Judge Shore said. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, your Honor," A member of the jury said, standing up holding a piece of paper. "We the jury find the defendant guilty of arson."

"Today's been a long day folks," The Judge said. "We'll return here the same time tomorrow for sentencing. Court is adjourned."

**~*~LATER~*~**

The ride home was long and awkwardly silent. After being found guilty, TJ found himself to very angry to say the least. He was basically, in his eyes, screwed from the beginning. With a lawyer that didn't give a damn about the outcome and a jury that probably had someone from Third Street as a relative, he didn't stand a chance in court. While he didn't say anything after the verdict was read there was plenty on his mind. He knew that everyone at Third Street was probably have a party to celebrate him not being able to terrorize them anymore. Hell, his own lawyer was probably hosting that party. But then there was how is parents had reacted, or in better words, hadn't reacted. They haven't said a word to him since the verdict was read, but he desperately wanted to know what they thought of the situation. Did they think he was guilty like the rest of the town? He tried to decipher an answer out of the expressions on their faces but came up empty. So now he stomped around in his room, trying to think of what he should do next with tomorrow possibly being his last day of freedom for God knows how long. When he found nothing to do in his own room he headed downstairs and sat in the living room, figuring that there was not a problem that TV couldn't cure. Before he could turn the TV on he overheard his parents talking in the kitchen.

"Maybe this'll be good for him," He heard his father said. "Some time away from here might get him to start acting straight. He has to see where is behavior will get him if he decides to act like this."

"But with all the violence in Juvenile hall it could make everything worse than what it already is," said his mother. "There are kids there that did much worse things than set schools on fire, and being around that could be really bad for him."

"So you think I did it too," He said, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Thanks. You don't have to worry about it happening anymore, since I'm either being put in a strait jacket or put in a cell. But as long as I'm out of everyone's hair that doesn't matter, right?" Without saying another word he walked out the front door. Not wasting a moment to relieve his anger, he punched the first tree he came close to, and then he punched it again and again until his knuckles were sore and bleeding. Leaning against the tree, he took a moment to catch his breath before continuing his way down the street. He couldn't help pass a few of his class mates who hadn't spared him of taunts of how they were happy he was 'being put away with crazy people like him,' 'wasn't going to be out with _normal_ people,' and that 'this should've happened years ago.' A few of them went of their way to walk up to him and told them exactly what they thought about it. Like he thought before, a few of them were throwing a party of the occasion. Even with all that, it wasn't what was making him upset at the moment.

He honestly didn't give a damn about what his classmates thought. The reason his eyes stung, and his vision was becoming blurry was that his own parents didn't believe him. That hurt more than the disbelief of the rest of the public. Reaching his destination he knocked on the door with all the emotions piling up in his mind behind it.

"Detweiler," Prickly said after opening the door. "Why are you knocking on my door so hard—" He stopped asking that question once he saw the tears streaming down the boy's face. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't do it," TJ said, trying to speak past the tightness he felt in his throat. "I swear to God I didn't light the school on fire! I did all those other things, but I swear on my life I didn't set the school on fire!"

"It's going to be okay—"

"No its not!" He yelled. "It's not going to be okay because no one believes me even though I'm telling them the truth and all they want to do is get rid of me! T-they're going to send me to some lunatic asylum or juvie even though I didn't do anything!" Unable to say anymore he broke down into sobs. A few drops of water fell from the sky, signaling that it was about to rain soon. Principal Prickly led him inside to keep the both of them from getting wet. Lying on the couch TJ buried his face in the pillow and continued to cry. "I didn't do it. I didn't do it…." He continued to sob into the pillow until he cried himself to sleep.

**~*~LATER~*~**

Opening his eyes, TJ could see through the window that the sun had set. If that was any indicator of what time it was it must've been late. Rubbing the dried tears off of his cheeks he started to walk through the house. He made it to the front door and opened it to be greeted by the falling rain. Oh well, it's not like he wanted to go home anyways. Turning back around he headed into the kitchen where he saw Principal Prickly was waiting for him.

"What time is it?" TJ asked him.

"Seven o'clock," Said the principal.

"Oh. Hey can I sleep over here tonight?" asked TJ. "I really don't want to go home. I'll leave tomorrow morning."

"I don't think your parents would like that."

"I don't think my parents give a damn about me," He said. "They said that they thought juvie might be 'good' for me. What's it like in juvie anyways?"

"Bad," Said Prickly. "I've seen kids go to juvie and come out as junior criminals. It doesn't 'help' anyone. It's just a place grown-ups put kids that they don't want to deal with the right way. And I don't want you to go there."

"That makes two of us," TJ mumbled. "Can you call my parents and ask if I can stay over tonight?"

"Yeah. You go sit down somewhere." Nodded, TJ went ad sat down back in the living room. Tomorrow was the day; judgment day. As much as he didn't want the sun to come back up in the morning he knew that was not going to happen. Hearing footsteps he looked up to see Principal Prickly coming in. "What'd they say?"

"They said you can stay," He Said. "Just come home in the morning."

"So you're letting me stay?"

"That's right. But don't get used to it."

"Thanks. So um, where am I sleeping?"

**~*~TIME LAPSE~*~**

After forcing down a sandwich to stop any hunger that might strike between now and later, all TJ wanted to do was sleep, even though he knew what was going to happen when he woke up. So he was taken to the guest room and promptly laid on the bed. With nothing else on his mind but tomorrow he could feel the sting of the tears coming back to his eyes as he pulled the blanket over him. He didn't want to think about what would happen tomorrow; he would've rather thought of anything else but that.

"Thanks for letting me stay over here, Principal Prickly," He said.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't get used to it," The Principal said, leaving the room. "Now get some sleep, alright?"

"Hey can I tell you something, sir?" TJ asked barely above a whisper, laying down and facing the wall. "I wasn't going to say this but since I'm pretty much going to jail for the rest of my foreseeable life, I think I should. You're kinda like a father to me. I mean I know we've had plenty of moment where we didn't agree on something or see eye to eye but we've had moments where we got along. Like that whole summer vacation thing with Benedict? That was really fun. Even before that we had a lot of fun. Like that one time I was principal of the school for a day, even though I became a tyrant, it was fun spending time you. I think we have a lot more in common than we both know. I really do respect you, sir. Not that I don't respect my own father but he's always been so strict with me, even when I was little. You're strict too, but you still let me be a kid at the end of the day, and really appreciated that. And these last few weeks I've been coming over here were great. I think everyone has some sort of role model and you're mine. I guess that's all."

"….gee, Detweiler, I don't know what to say…."

"Promise you'll visit me in juvie?"

"I promise."

"Thanks. Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Detweiler." After turning the lights off Prickly closed the door to the room. Once the door was closed he leaned against the door and let out a sigh of exhaustion. He truly didn't want the boy to have to go to juvenile hall. He had seen kids go in and come out so traumatized, disturbed, or just plain changed that they couldn't adjust back to normal life outside. He did care about the boy, and he didn't want him to go through that; he wouldn't come back out the same. And now he just told him that he saw him as a father figure. That made him feel as if he failed the boy.

**~*~THE NEXT MORNING~*~**

The courtroom seemed unusually quiet to TJ, despite the massive amount of people and press who showed up to see just how long he would be put away. He didn't really understand why he had to dress up for this; he was probably only going to be in here for ten minutes. Whether or not that wold be true was about to be answered when the Judge entered and sat down at her bench.

"Okay, this is complicated," Judge Shore began. "In making this decision I considered every aspect of this case. The fire, as well as the mental illness all play. So let's get right to it, I want to get home to watch my stories. Theodore J. Detweiler, I sentence you to the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center until you reach the age of 18. When you reach the age of 18 you are to be transferred to the Duval Regional jail until you reach the age of 21. While you are incarnated you are to receive counseling by Mr. Simmons for your ODD. Court is adjourned."

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><p><strong>Was I too harsh on the sentencing? I feel like I was….<strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: It took me forever to find out that ODD exists and at first I didn't believe it but there it was so I used it. He definitely has it in this story, definitely. As for it turning into Conduct Disorder, which is much more dangerous than his current behavior, we'll just have to see. ;) And congratulations on getting Super Mario 3D Land; that game is epic. I thought it was kind of easy though. And that TJXLawson fic was weird wasn't it? I almost didn't finish it. I'm thinking of writing my own story with that pairing. Have you ever thought of writing your own SpinelliXRandall fic one day? I sure a lot of people would be interested in how that would work.**

**Donna Nnov: You actually lead me to find ODD! Yays for that! Ten points!**

**Reviews are a great way to tell me what you think about the story!**


	14. Welcome Home

**I enjoyed the last chapter! Too bad I don't feel the same way with this one. It's not that don't like it, it's just that it's sort of the beginning of what can only be described as a decline into pure madness. **

**I had to do a lot of researching on Juvenile Detention centers before writing this to get it as accurate as possible. I hope I did a good job. This chapter not only begins the arch of being in Juvenile Detention, but the introduction of quite a few OC's, so bear with me here; I tried to make them as realistic as possible. **

**Um, school starts Monday, and I can't say exactly how often I will be able to update. If ratemyprofessers . com are right in any way I'll be having to write nine page reports rather than nine pages of fanfiction for one class.**

**Last note, it has donned on me that I will not be getting to the halfway point with this story like I said a few chapters ago, which sets me back a little bit but not by much. On that same note I hope to have two chapters fore every year TJ spends in juvie. It was going to be more, but choose to simplify that by making them longer. The first year doesn't count; there will be more than two chapters for his first year which begins now.**

**Read On!**

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><p>Bumps, jumps, and quick and abrupt stops filled TJ's ride to the Juvenile Detention Center. Just moments after hearing the sentence he received he was rushed out of the courtroom to begin serving it right way. He was handcuffed and put in the back of a police truck. The Duval juvenile Detention center was on the border of the state three hours away, meaning that he was stuck in the back of the truck for the entire ride, and it wasn't air conditioned. On the way they had stopped a few times to pick up a few others who were going to the same place; two girls and year older than him, and another boy in his teens. None of them were in the mood for talking to the ride was quiet. About an hour into the ride they all had managed to fall asleep even with their hands forced behind their back with the handcuffs. Sleeping was the only thing to keep them from worrying about where they were going.<p>

**~*~LATER~*~**

"WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE BASTERDS!" The sound of banging and screaming filled his ears, waking him from his sleep. He, as well as the rest of the others were greeted by officers opening the door to the truck and dragging them out. His feet barely touched the ground before an officer was pulling him and the others into the building where they were told to stand next to a wall and not to say a word. Once all the officers and guard were inside and they locked the doors they all faced the new inmates.

"Listen up," one of the guards yell at them. "We don't care why or how you've gotten yourselves in here. You're here now, and now that you're here you are going to listen to us! We don't care what you have to say about doing something we tell you to do! That's what your parents do, and we are not you parents! You will not talk until we tell you to talk! You will walk when we tell you to walk! Failure to comply to ANY of the rules will led you to a punishment that I am not able to describe by law! Now when you go in there, you're going to be separated by gender and age! You will then have your picture and fingerprints taken! The faster you move the easier it'll be!"

'Does he really have to yell this loud?' Thought TJ. He wanted to call himself upset but that would not have been a strong enough word. The ride over here was hot, then he was yanked out of the truck without any sort of warning before hand, and now he was getting yelled at by an officer, or guard or whatever he was called.

"Let's go!" The guard yelled. They were lead down a long gray hallway, and at the end of it the girls were separated from the boys. The two groups were lead down opposite directions. They were lead outdoors where they could see two bigger four story buildings in the back, one for the girls, and one for the boys. "This is your new home from however long you're supposed to be here!" The guard said as they walked into the building. Once they reached the end of the first hallway they were asked their ages. After that they were separated, leaving TJ by himself. He walked, with a guard at his side and one behind him to a door in the next hall to his left. Inside another guard was sitting at the table talking on the phone. His handcuffs were taken off and he was told to sit in the chair in front on the desk.

Rubbing his wrists, TJ looked around the room. And area for taking pictures was right behind the desk, and it looked like there was a shower in the back. The whole building looked old and run down, with lights that flickered on and off every few seconds. But it was big; did they really need four floors for juvie?

"What's your name, kid?" The guard sitting at the table asked.

"TJ Detweiler."

"That's not a name," Said the guard. "Those are letters. I'll ask you again. What is your name?"

"Theodore Jasper Detweiler," He said with a grimace.

"Alright. Go back there," Said the guard, pointing to the back of the room. "There's a shower back there, and a bucket with delousing shampoo, soap and everything else you need to get clean. Be back out here in ten minutes. Your uniform will be out there when you're done." He waved for him to go back there as the phone began to ring. One look at the shower and TJ going to refuse to even step in there. Hard water buildup, grime, and rust lined the shower, and it simply didn't look safe to even take one step inside. Looking down to the bucket he luckily saw a pair of shower shoes that were meant to guard against the dirt.

**~*~TEN MINUTES LATER~*~**

'God this shampoo stinks…'

Stepping back out to the front of the office, TJ now wore a light blue prison jumpsuit with what he presumed to be his number, 784694, stitched on the top left side on it, and brown boots. The pungent odor of the delousing shampoo was always five steps ahead of him. He didn't understand why he had to use it; it wasn't as if he had lice, plus it smelled, and it wouldn't go away. The jumpsuit was a few sizes too big and fit awkwardly on him. He wondered where the other older boy was. Did they have separate area for kids based on age? If that was the case then he figured that he would be around kids his own age and the place didn't seem as threatening as everyone made it out to be. How different could it possibly be to deal with kids his own age? He did it all that time back at Third Street. After being fingerprinted and having his picture taken another guard came in and lead him onto a nearby elevator. He walked a bit further before reaching the last door. Inside he saw it was large open area. On the sides of the walls were doors which were the rooms for those being held there. There were also stairs that lead to a higher level where more rooms were held. Tables were scattered around the room and one TV was on the wall in the back corner. A loud bell rang and the other inmates starting to come in through a door in the back.

"You get feed three times a day," The guard began, leading him throughout the area. "Breakfast is at 9:00 a.m., lunch is at 1:00 p.m., and dinner is at 6:00 p.m. If you're not there at that time then you're not eating. The showers are communal, get in whenever you need to. I suggest doing so every day for you won't start to smell like a piece of road kill. School is Monday through Friday, 10 o'clock to 12:30, then 2:00 to 3:00. You don't have a choice whether or not to go. You get an hour outside in the morning and one in the evening at 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. If you wake up one day and decide to go crazy then we have the white rooms for you. If you decide to show the world how crazy you've gone by hurting another inmate then we have the pink room. Everyone gets a roommate," The guard said stopping at an open door on the top of the higher level. "Johansson, you got a new roommate."

Peeking inside, TJ could see a bunk bed, two shelves, and a sink and toilet in the corner. The room itself was only a little bigger than two of the bunk beds, and had a small window on the wall. Everything was in bad shape, and the paint on the walls was chipping away. The boy who the guard was talking to was lying on the top bed reading a book. He was of African descent, and wore his hair in dreadlocks along with a pair of sunglasses and the same light blue prison jumpsuit.

"Are you _serious_?" He asked the guard. "The last guy just got transferred over this morning and you people give me a new scrub to deal with the same day? What the hell do I have to do it get a room to myself? Kill someone? This is some bullshit….."

"Deal with it Johansson," Said the guard before leaving. "I'll be back in a minute with all of your stuff."

"The fuck are you in for?"

"Someone set my school on fire and I got blamed for it," Said TJ.

"Ugh. You get bottom bunk. That should go without sayin' since I'm on top and you a scrub," He said. "Name's JoJo, and that sink is really attached to the toilet."

"…ew, really? Is it clean?"

"Probably not. Now stop talkin', I'm trying to read here…"

"Alright, here's your stuff kid." Turning around TJ saw that the guard had returned with two medium sized boxes. "Your uniform, school books, towels, soap, and everything else you'll need is in here. Laundry comes around every Saturday morning. We do inspection every Sunday. If we find anything in here that shouldn't be there expect to get disciplined." Taking the boxes and setting them on the bottom bed, TJ thought about the situation. There were so many rules! But at the same time, there were some many kids here! They couldn't possibly be able to catch and control all of them; a few of them must be able to slip through the cracks. And he planned to be one of those who slipped through the cracks of the guard's attention. All he needed to do was figure out how they worked and what they did each and every day. That should take more than two weeks at the most.

"Where do they expect me to put all this stuff? There's no room in here!" He yelled.

"Did I not just say 'shut up?'" JoJo snapped. "Look, there's room under the bed for all ya stuff. If ya gonna keep talkin' then take that outside. Shit; tired of hearin' people's voices today. And stay out of people's way. That includes me, Freckles."

'What is that guys problem?' TJ thought as he left the room. After putting the boxes under his bed he was more than willing to leave that room. It was barely big enough for one person, and two kids have to share it. At least he only HAS to be there when he wanted to sleep. Sitting on the steps with his legs hanging over the edge, TJ looked down at the area below him. There were a lot of kids. Some were hanging around in their own group, some were sitting at the tables playing cards, a few were doing homework (but that's was only one or two, and they were in the corners as if to avoid the others), and a couple were fighting over the TV. And it was loud due to most of them talking.

'At least this area is big,' He thought. 'I can't stand being in some crowded place every day. What time is it?' Seeing an old clock hanging on the wall he saw that it was 5:30. Dinner wouldn't be for another thirty minutes, but he wouldn't get to go outside for tomorrow.

Five years. That was how long he was in here. Five years. Five years here in juvenile hall, then three more years in a regular prison. He could see the looks on everyone's faces but at Third Street now. They were all probably having some sort of massive block party to celebrate him being so far way and for so long. And that party probably was going to last for days. Oh, they must me ecstatic about this. Now they were free of him and his wrath. There was no doubt about it; he heard the loud cheer from the crowd from inside and outside the courtroom and the police truck drove off. But he WAS going to come back one day, that was for damn sure. What he was going to do then, that was yet to be contemplated, but something will happen for being put in this hell hole.

"HEY SCRUB!" Someone yelled. Since there was a lot of people yelling around in the open area, TJ didn't think it was directed towards him. One minute he was sitting down and trying to think of a way to master life in juvie, the next he was being pulled to his feet by his arms and thrown against the wall by two boys, each of them fourteen years old and sporting buzz-cuts. They looked alike, so he assumed they were twins.

"Don't you know when someone's talking to you?" Said another fourteen year old approaching him. He was a full our inches taller than him, and had his thick black hair slicked back. He was big, with muscles that showed exactly how many fights he had been in. With a set of brass knuckles on his fingers and a toothpick between his lips he looked threatening, with or without the muscles. "You're really startin' to piss me off scrub and you haven't even said a word!"

"That's not my problem," TJ said as he started to walk away. He heard a snap of the fingers before he was grabbed by the arms again and dragged to the bottom on the steps. He was stopped in the middle of the open area where a crowd was beginning to form. as the crowd grew the boy with the brass knuckles came face to face with him again. Since he was still being held back by the twins, TJ couldn't walk away like he wanted to.

"You got a real attitude problem, scrub," He said. "You ain't got the RIGHT to have an attitude! How the hell you gonna come in here and talk to me like that? I should fuck you up! Fuck are you in for?"

"That's none of your business!" TJ told him. Who was this kid anyway? He came out of nowhere and was picking a fight, and he hadn't even seen him before! He obviously had too much time on his hands.

"See, he STILL gotta attitude!" The boy said to the crowd. "I just gotta fix it, that's all." He came closer, cracking his knuckles. After giving a crooked smile he raised his fist with the brass knuckles and landed a firm, hard punch on the left side of TJ's face. The sound of it echoed against the wall, and he could feel blood begin to stream down his face. The punch landed just below his eye, and had so much strength behind it that it would put even Spinelli to shame. He couldn't fight because of his arms being held back by two other boys, but even if they weren't he still wouldn't be able to fight back because the punches kept coming to the left side of his face. The crown shouted and yelled when punch after punched caused more and more blood to pour onto his blue jumpsuit, staining it and creating a stark contrast between the light blue and the dark red. He pain alone made his dizzy. A whistle blew and the crowd quickly dispersed and he was let go, only to drop onto his hands and knees.

"The names Tommy Gun, Scrub!" The boys said. "And I'ma keep fucking you up until I'm bored!" Tossing a small towel on the floor he began to walk away from the scene. "Clean yourself up, ain't no one cleanin' after you!"

Opening his eyes, which at this point was an extremely painful endeavor, TJ could see the growing puddle of his blood on the floor. His face throbbed and ached, and he could almost feel it begin to swell. He thought that he must have at least a few cuts to cause all of the blood that would be required to make a puddle that big. He pressed the towel against the left side of his face to stop anymore bleeding to happen. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see a guard standing next to him signaling to get up. He was lead out of the dormitory and down the hall into a room that looked much like a clinic. A nurse was inside, and the moment she was the blood soaked towel she told him to sit down on the bed.

She cleaned off the dried blood on his face and looked closer at the wounds. TJ winced when he was told that he needed ten stitches and that there were no painkillers for easing the pain. The sharp stinging pain of the stitches being put in intensified the pain he already felt, and he had to get a few redone because the flinching he did cause them to become undone. After an hour the stitches were done and told not to do anything strenuous or that they would come back out and he would have to get them done yet again. After returning the other dorms he saw everyone putting empty tray back on carts in various areas around and knew that he wasn't getting anything to eat until tomorrow. By now, all TJ wanted to do was lay down, and try to ignore the pain. Returning the his room he saw JoJo sitting in his own bed, doing what appeared to be homework.

Not wanting to even talk, TJ layed in his own bed and tried to fall asleep, but his wounds didn't go noticed by his roommate who began to laugh at the first sight of it.

"Oh man," JoJo said laughing. "You got fucked UP! Damn! Did he use the knuckles? Must've 'cause that shit looks like it hurts! Freckles got fucked UP ta'day!" He continued to laugh as TJ tried to ignore him and fall asleep. It was all he wanted to do.

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><p><strong> There's going to be a lot of juvenile slang here, but how they're being used should make them easy to understand. If anyone doesn't understand them then tell me and I'll explain it in the next authors note.<strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: That's how the system is sometimes. You never know if your own lawyer thinks you did it and wants to punish you like everyone else. But is it weird that I want to be a paralegal? :) On the flipside, I have that same difficulty you're having with that game with Zelda games. I tried to play Ocarina of time and it's annoying me. I respect the series and everything, but damn. Maybe I should've started playing Zelda games when I was younger like I did with the Mario series….**

**Donna Nnov:…anymore? :D Well the first question I have is, why did you think so before? And why not now?**

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	15. Day One

**Hiya, folks. **

**Um…I BARELY had enough time to write this chapter (The bulk of which I started writing after I posted the last chapter). So after this first week…..i dunno. :) last semester gave me so much more free time that this semester makes last semester look like practice. D: As far as updates, I'm not totally sure. This weekend is a three day weekend so I'll try to update fast or at least get a head start on writing future chapters. As for spring break, that's still up for grabs.**

**Some chapters will have journal entries (but not all of them ) showing what he thinks of being there. In juvie. Thought that would interesting for the readers. This chapter doesn't have one but the more serious chapters will. There should be one in the next chapter however.**

**Read on!**

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><p><strong>~*~D~*~<strong>

Wincing at the pain he felt as he began to wake up, TJ slowly sat up in his bed. The pain had not gone down over night; if anything it appeared to have gotten worse. Looking around he wondered what time it was. The sun was out, but JoJo was still in bed, sleeping. There wasn't any noise coming from outside either, hinting that the others were either sleeping as well or didn't want to get out of bed. Stepping out of bed he tried to think of something to do to pass the time. He spotted a cracked and broken window next to the cabinets on the wall. Looking at his refection he saw that his face has swollen and bruised since yesterday. It swelled around his left eye so bad that it was blocked, preventing any eye sight from the left eye. Various areas were discolored, and it looked like a small touch would make it bleed.

He stepped away from the mirror and pulled out his two boxes from under his bed. He looked inside one and pulled out his uniforms. There were twelve of them, and they each had his number, 784694 stitched into them. Also inside the box were towels, socks, boxers, and white t-shirts. In the second box were his school books that looked like they were ready to fall apart as soon as they were opened. One for math, English, science, and history, along with notebooks, pencils, and a backpack to carry them in. He was suddenly reminded of his own backpack that helped him carry plenty of beers. He could go for one right about now. They always helped ease any pain he was feeling at the moment.

At the side of the box was an unopened envelope. Opening it he was a card inside with his name, ID number and picture on the front. A letter inside said that it functioned like a debit card to be used at the commissary to buy things he needed. The letter continued and said that his parents could put money on it, or he could work in the laundry room or kitchen to earn his own money. Bu for now, it already had a hundred dollars on it. He also saw a watch in the box reading 6:45. Putting that in his pocket, he put the everything back in its box, minus the books (those went in the backpack), and pushed those under the bed.

Then something came across his mind; where were his parents? They should've been here yesterday wet he first arrived! What, were they partying with the rest of the town over his sentence? It didn't seem implausible the way they were acting a few days ago. He was willing to wait two weeks for them to com but after that, he didn't know what to think about that. But he would give Principal Prickly more time than that; the guy was a principal after all.

'What is taking them so long to get here?' He thought. 'You would think they would be here. Apparently not.'

Hearing talking coming from outside the room, TJ went out and saw others coming out of their rooms and beginning the commotion that he saw yesterday. Since he didn't want to be in a room that was so small that it choked anyone inside, he headed out. He needed to know the dynamics of juvie if he wanted to get away with everything. Leaning over the edge of the stairs he focused on a table where a bunch of kids were gathered around. With sodas, chips and candy on the table it looked as if they were bartering amongst themselves. He remembered the time he took over the playground economy within a matter of days. All he had was a few monstickers to begin with and that grew into a monopoly where he was top dog. No one had anything, and if they did it soon became his. Smiling he realized that would be an easy way to get to the top of the food chain here.

A loud bell rang, and everyone started to go through a door in the back. His watch read 8:00, the time the guard said that everyone was to go outside so he followed the crowd.

The sun was shining down on the dirt ground that was surrounded by a ten foot tall fence with barbed wire on the top edges. There was a basketball hoop but it was rusting and looked as if it would fall down if anyone tried to throw a ball in. A few old and shaky lunch tables were around the edge of the building. TJ walked around and tried to find something to do. Most kids were standing around with their friends talking. Since he didn't have any friends yet he didn't have much else to do than sit on the ground and draw in the dirt.

He was beginning to plan out exactly how he was going to take over when dirt was kicked in his face. He coughed and looked up to see who had done it and was greeted by a smug looking Tommy Gun.

"Oh did I ruin ya little drawin'?" Tommy Gun asked, dripping with sarcasm. "Like I give a shit. Get up!"

"Leave me alone," TJ told him.

"And you still goin' on with the attitude! The fuck did I say yesterday, Scrub? I said I was gonna keep fuckin' you up!" He raised a fist, ready to land a punch, but he didn't get a chance because of a hand placed on his shoulder. They both looked behind him to see an all too calm looking JoJo standing there.

"Lay off 'em, Tommy," JoJo said.

"And what if I don't?"

"Ya' know what'll happen if you don't. Don't you forget what know," He said. "Go botha' some other scrub."

"….whateva'." Tommy said, snatching his shoulder back and walking away. "I ain't done with you, scrub!"

"Thanks for that," Said TJ.

"That wasn't for you," JoJo snapped. "I ain't planin' on hearin' you cry all night, shit. We ain't friends; I ain't 'sha buddy." He walked away back to his own friends, leaving TJ alone by himself. He didn't have a chance to think about what had happened because the bell signaling for everyone to come back in rang.

**~*~U~*~**

"Back of the line scrub!"

Thrown against the wall, TJ was forcibly taken out of the line by the person standing behind him. By now he as getting sick of people pulling him and dragging him around every day. Being in the middle of a thought only to be yanked, literally and figuratively, out of them without a warning. It was making him angry, but he knew he had to focus on getting to the top. Getting back in line he was pushed out yet again by another boy who happened to come in after he got back in line. That time he fought back, but only managed to get one punch in while the boy punched him in the stomach over and over. They were broken up by a guard who told TJ to get in the back of the line or not eat at all. He only did so because the guard said to.

The food he received didn't even seem worth the long wait in line. It was cold, and didn't even look like it was food at all. Whatever it was that was supposed to be breakfast was hard and the wrong color. He was starving from only having eaten breakfast the day before so he dared to try a bite, only to spit it right back out. It tasted horrible to say the least. It was amazing that they called it food! And he had to eat this for how long? Five years? Shit, he was going to starve to death with this slop. He looked over at the others who were eating and watched as they quickly chewed and swallowed the gunk, not leaving enough time for it to settle on their tongues to taste it. He knew then he would have to get used to doing that if he wanted to eat anything.

**~*~V~*~**

'As sucky as _this_ school is, it's not far behind from schools everywhere else….'

One step into the door of his new classroom TJ was introduced into what could only be described as insanity. The kids talked, threw paper balls and planes, and did all the usual things disruptive students did in the classroom to distract from the lesson. That alone wasn't enough to shock him, but the obvious selling of drugs was. Sitting down at the only empty seat in the room (which, like everything else was either falling apart or poorly put together in the first place) he looked over to the boy sitting to his left and saw that he was injecting a needle in his arm.

'Is this place really that bad?' He wondered. 'I might need some of that if it is. I already hate it here. I get locked up and I still have to go to school. Must be part of the punishment.'

"Alright, enough talking! It's time to learn something!" The talking suddenly stopped and everyone looked at the front of the class with smiles on their faces. The voice who had yelled wasn't threatening, but rather humorous sounding. The man in front of the class, the teacher appeared to have no trouble commanding the attention of everyone in the class. After taking attendance he addressed the class again.

"Okay, I heard that there was a new student in here," He said. "Where is he?"

"Freckles is right there!" JoJo yelled. "In fronna Taz!"

'I can't just blend in with everyone,' He thought to himself. Raising his hand after being called out but his roommate, TJ caught the attention of the teacher. "I'm right here."

"Oh. My name is Mr. Doctor, and this is my class. It's an easy class I promise, but you do have to take notes to keep up alright? Now class, last time were we're talking about basic algebra and how it doesn't apply to life unless your becoming an engineer, contractor, economist, or a smart-ass mathematician who's only purpose is to make other people feel like dumbasses….."

**~*~A~*~**

Throwing his books on his bed TJ cursed Mr. Doctor for giving him so much homework in the name of 'catching up' to the rest of the class. Each subject he discussed, plus a few he would discuss later, had five worksheets he had to turn in at the end of the week. Why should he even bother to do it? It's not as if someone's going to chase him down if he got a bad grade.

"MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, FRECKLES!" He looked up just in time to move out of JoJo's path that he was running. He ran in with books in hand and jumped onto the top bunk. TJ watched as he pulled out the worksheet, quickly wrote on the paper, and stuffed the sheets between the pages of the book.

"What's the rush?" TJ asked him.

"None ya bidness, Freckles," JoJo said running back out of the room.

"None of my _business_?" TJ repeated to himself. "Yeah right….." He wanted to see what his roommate was rushing back and forth to, so he stepped outside. Everyone was either sitting on the edge of the top steps or standing around on the floor forming a circle. Standing on the steps he could see two guard literally _dragging_ two kids into the middle of the floor. They each pointed at the other and said something that he couldn't make out. The guards backed away from the two boys and after a whistle was blown the two boys started fighting. He thought that the guards would break them up and start the fight, but they let it go on without intervening. By the time the boys were too tired to fight any more blood was drawn and spilled on the floor. The guards finally came back between them, and one of the guards handed the boy who didn't bleed a brown paper bag while the other was dragged off to god knows where. The boy with the paper bag ran from the area, up the stairs and into his room leaving behind a trail of the scent of what was in the bag.

'How'd they get Chinese food in here?' TJ thought. 'I want some! This other food tastes like shit…' Mumbles and shuffling was heard as everyone headed down to get the food the prison provided. TJ opted out eating, knowing that even if he somehow managed to swallow it, it would come right back up. Instead he went over what he just saw in his mind. Those guys were beating the crap out of each other just for some Chinese food. He could understand why though; food in here tastes like it's been eaten already. Food from the outside must taste like most delicious thing in the world to them. Getting it would be worth anything. If something was worth doing that then it could be away to manipulate them into doing thing for him. He just had to figure out how. He definitely didn't have anything people here would want, but what else would they want besides food? Water would be the first thing; the water coming out of the water fountain didn't look clean enough to be used in the toilet! The only problem with using that to his advantage was finding a way to get clean water in there.

**~*~L~*~**

"I need a drink now more than ever!" TJ yelled as he lay down on his bed. He knew now that he was going to starve to death before he served his time. The food he received for dinner was nothing more than a brown block of indescribable gunk consisting of whatever satisfied their serving of the five food groups. Upon taking his first bite he promptly ran to the nearest trashcan and remove it from his stomach. Why did the food in here have to taste SO bad? What this funny to the people in charge? Force kid to eat something that was inedible and watch them drop like flies from starving? Or was money so limited that they scrapped whatever they could find to put it on a plate? Either way, he wasn't going to eat.

Turning on his side he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep but was prevented by the intrusive nature of his growling stomach. Ignoring it he hoped that it would go away but after ten minutes he knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Closing his eyes he tried to fall asleep but something small hit him in the back. Turning around he saw a small bag of potato chips on his bed.

"That's da last time I'm helpin' you," JoJo said from the top bunk. "I ain't gonna baby you. You can't starve for all I care. I suggest you suck up ya pride and eat the food the state gives us."

"If you can even call that _food_," TJ mumbled, opening the bag. "Thanks."

"Uh-huh. You owe me for this; remember that."

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><p><strong>I have a tumblr now! :D I'm only going to be having rants on cartoons, new and old. If you're interested it's AstronomerAlways . tumblr . com or just go to my profile and click homepage. I haven't posted anything yet, but I will soon. Feel free to ask me something there too.<strong>

**I'm kind of interested (and by that I mean completely fascinated) in what people expect to happen while he's in juvie. So that is the question; What do you think is going to happen to him in juvie? ;)**

**RandallXSpinelli: The misery hasn't even started! Just wait until things get rolling. Yeah, I really wish I could update as often as I have been, but unfortunately that's not a possibility. But don't worry, I plan to make each chapter longer to make up for it. **

**Donna Nnov: What I meant to ask was, why did you think he set the fire and why did you change your mind on it? And that's creepy how similar our stories were! Great minds think alike I suppose. ;) May I ask how did the fire in your story get started? :D**

**Please Review!**


	16. Words Of Wisdom

**Sorry about the wait folks! College is a ruthless bitch. That's one of the reasons it took so long to do this. The other being me putting in order what I had planned to do for this part of the story down in a way that makes sense, so I'm still working on it in a way.**

**Let's see here….there should be two more chapters in his first year at Juvenile Hall, not counting this one. Then we start moving forward! The chapters will also get longer to make up for the time in between updates.**

**Last note, I may or not be posting one-shots. Just one-shots, I'm not starting another story, these are just ideas that pop up in my head, like the one I wrote a while ago with king bob and TJ. I'm not getting distracted. It's the contrary actually. If I get a new idea for a one-shot I find that if I don't write it before it's all I can think about, I lost interest in the story that I'm working on. So there's that.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em><strong>ONE WEEK LATER<strong>_

"TJ what in the world happened to your face?"

Sitting on one side of a cold gray room at a rickety table to match was TJ. Normally he wouldn't see much more other than his room, the area outside his room, the dried space outside that was called a playground (though it bared little resemblance), and a classroom. But today he saw this room and that was because this was the visitors room, and he had visitors; his parents who were sitting across from him. It took far too long for them to get here in his opinion. What kind of parents waits a week after their kid is dragged out of court to some jail for kids three hours away to visit them? He needed one hell of an excuse for doing that forgive them for it.

The first thing his parents addressed when he came in and sat down was the bruising of his face. The swelling had gone down significantly, but the bruising and stitches were still present. He was still incredibly sore, and took extra steps to make sure nothing came in contact with his face including his worried mother's hand. When she reached out to touch his face in a way most mothers would upon seeing half of their child's face covered in bruises he flicked back, not in pain, but in disgust and anger at his parents.

"I fell down some stairs when I first came here," He lied.

"You fell down some stairs?" His father asked him, not believing his answer.

"Yeah. Those cement floors can do that. Had to get stitches for it, too," TJ said. "Without any pain killers. Hurt like a bitch. Still does."

"I find it hard to believe that you just _fell…_"

"And I find it hard that this is I the first time you visited," TJ snapped. "It's been a week since I was dragged here. What took you so long to visit?"

"We did come," His mother told him. "Started driving here as soon as we were able to find where this place was. But when we came in to see you they told us that we had to wait a week to visit to let you adjust to everything."

"They said to _wait a week_?" TJ repeated. "I was going to say that was a bunch of crap but after what I've seen in here I believe it. Well here I am! I haven't eaten in a week, the water is brown, the playground is drier than a desert, and I'm scared to death of dropping the soap for obvious reasons. How are you guys doing? I hope you're doing well."

"You haven't eaten in a _week_?" His mother asked, shocked with disbelief. "Don't they feed you in here?"

"Yeah but I don't think you can call that food exactly," Said TJ. "I don't think it's edible; it's been sitting in my stomach since I started eating it and it's still there…it's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"I wonder what's in the food here…"

"Lettuce, tomato sauce, grain, beef, chicken, lemon juice for flavor that's not there, and onions," TJ told his parents. "And I's all squeezed into a block and served with stale jell-o, and stale water. My roommate had kitchen duty and he told me what was in the food…"

"How are you and your roommate getting along?" His father asked him. "You aren't fighting with him are you?"

"We're not fighting. He barely even talks to me," He said. "I dunno if you would call that getting along. Am I REALLY here until I'm twenty-one? I'm going crazy in here! You know what I did yesterday? When we went outside for what I guess I supposed to be recess I ran around the fence the entire time. Without stopping. And I don't know why!"

"That should be a good thing," Said his father. "At least you're still getting exercise."

"Thanks, _**Dad**_," TJ said though clenched teeth. "Nice to have your support especially after A WHOLE FUCKING WEEK of not hearing from you." Letting out a sigh he let his temper go down before continuing the conversation. "Have you heard anything from Principal Prickly?"

"Your principal?" His mother asked. "No. Why?"

"He said he would visit me when I came here," Said TJ. "He promised me when I spent the night at his house."

"Well I sure he's very busy TJ," His mother told him. "Running a school takes a lot of time."

"Mm-hmm…" He mumbled. Seconds later a bell signaling the end of visitation rang. With a hug from his mother they promised to visit him again as soon as they can, but part of him didn't believe them. No phone call or anything for a week since he arrived? That didn't seem like a good clue to them visiting him anytime soon.

Stepping back into the dorms he watched as the other kids who had visitors as well scatter to their respective places. Everyone had their own place and their own friends that they hung-out with every day, except him of course. He didn't want to become close to anyone in here. From his experience with his old group, those people who you call your friends eventually get used to what you do from them and become greedy and ungrateful of what you do. Then they start to EXPECT you to do it as if it's not a burden. That was part of the reason he started pranking them as well as everyone else. The guys thought that those pranks were easy to come out with, and requested over and over again for them to prank someone that the group didn't like. Soon he didn't like them, and they were no longer off limits. Obviously they didn't like that they were the victims of his onslaught, and they broke up. He may have been able to prank anyone as he pleased, but he also lost the availability of their special abilities, and he didn't want to go through that again. But TJ was getting off course with his thoughts. There we're bigger issues at hand: getting to know about everyone in here without befriending them.

He considered spying, but after seeing a sentence that was scrapped into one of the walls his second day there, he chose not to. The sentence read _"Snitches get Stitches,"_ and he had enough stitches to deal with as it is. That, and it seemed to Randall-ish for his taste. The only other way he could think of was using the few little accessories the others were wearing to guess a little about their personality. One kid had on a pair of green goggles with a black swirl on each lens; TJ thought that one might be a geek. Another wore a pair of fingerless gloves and the top half of his jumpsuit down with a white tee shirt; he thought that kid was a fighter. He tried to do the same analysis on JoJo to find something but came up empty. The two of them barely talked to one another, and TJ thought that he would be a good place to start.

"Hey let go of me! You're pulling to hard!"

Snapping out of his thoughts, TJ looked up from his seat on the cement floor to see a boy being dragged by his feet by two guards. The boy had his arms handcuffed behind his back, making the experience more painful and it looked as if there were heading towards a locked door that he hadn't seen anyone enter since he arrived.

"LEMME GO! LEMME GO! I AIN'T DO NOTHIN'!" The boy yelled. The guards ignored his pleas and continued to drag him. Once they were through the door, it was shut, and the screaming couldn't be heard anymore. At that moment TJ thought back to what he was told when he first came here.

"_If you wake up one day and decide to do crazy then we have the white rooms for you. If you decide to show the world how crazy you've gone by hurting another inmate then we have the pink room._"

Maybe that kid was being taken to one of those rooms for doing something. He didn't have time to ponder that thought because a familiar feeling swept over him.

He first felt this feeling on the fourth day, and it was this feeling that made him want to get out of juvie, one way or another. It was strange, and he had hoped that it would go away on its own but it has only gotten stronger. He could put an exact word to it, but it could be best described as paranoia. One moment he felt like bugs were crawling all over his skin when there were none, and the next he could swear he was being constantly watched by a sort of 'Big brother' figure. The walls appeared to be closing in and the space was getting smaller and there seemed to be less and less air. He knew that these ideas were false, but that didn't stop those thoughts from creeping into his head. He hated it; it made him feel weak and helpless and he didn't like that all. Thinking that someone was out to get him installed fear, and fear distracted him from his goals. The feeling of having no power irritated him to no end. TJ was beginning to think he was going crazy, but a quick nap would put his brief paranoia to rest.

Stepping into his room, he saw that JoJo was lying in his top bunk, reading an unmarked book. Not saying a word, TJ laid down in his own bed and closed his eyes. He wasn't anywhere close to where he wanted to be on the Juvie food chain. He was still on the bottom; a 'scrub' as everyone put it. He knew that he had to move up and quick or else he would always be at the bottom. But how? He needed advice from someone on top (or not on the bottom at all) on how they moved, however he was damn sure that he couldn't walk up to them and say, _"hey, can you give me a few tips on not being a scrub?_"

Tired, he thought of anyway he could get close enough to anyone there without them knowing. He was closet to JoJo, solely on the fact that they were roommate and saw each other naked on more than one occasion, but that didn't count. Taking a chance he turned on his side and spoke up.

"Hey can I ask you something?" He asked JoJo.

"Wha' is it, Freckles?" JoJo asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"How do you stand being in here?" TJ asked him. "It's been a week and I can't stand it! I'm ready to break out of here! But you've been in here longer and you seem so calm about everything." The boy above him let out a long sigh before answering.

"Lemme tell ya somethin' Freckles. Are you listening?"

"Yeah."

"Juvie is a 'lil jail, a'ight? It's a place where adults send kids that dey know can take down society in a single flash. An' dey don't like that. So dey bring us 'ere, and keep us 'ere, treating us like we killed da president. They don't give a damn about us here! The guards treat us like shit, the food tastes like shit, parents don't give a shit once 'sha here, and ya life becomes a big pile of steaming shit to society. Once sha in 'ere you gotta do whateva it takes to survive or you ain't gonna make it. An the damn thing about it is, half of us don't even belong 'ere. You know why I'm 'ere? I'm here cause I shot the kids who were gonna try and kill me an my 'lil brother. I ain't do nothing to provoke 'em, but they felt 'da need to kill me and my brother 'cause we're black. I defend 'em, and I'M the one that got in trouble; for shootin' them when dey were after us wit baseball bats. Do I belong 'ere? NO. I should be wit my 'lil brother at home, Tommy Gun should be wit his family….but no one'll listen, cause dey know we can change da world if we 'ere out dere. Shit, dey were probably plannin' on puttin' us all in here years before we came! And we all know dat you leave 'ere a different person than what we came in as. So ya wanna know wha' we do to survive? We change ourselves; become a different person. Leave ya' old self at the door 'cause if you don't that person is gonna die a long and painful death. That's my ansa to ya' question."

"…..become a different person?" TJ repeated. "How?"

"Do I need to tell you everything?" JoJo asked, frustrated after his rant. "You know wha'? Just sit on the floor."

"What?"

"Sit on da floor," JoJo said again after grabbing a few small bottles of his shelf and walking to the sink. "I'm tryin' to help your ass out. Sit on the floor Freckles, fuck." Grumbling under his breath, TJ reluctantly sat on the floor with his back against his bed. What was this guy up to? He barely says anything and then all of a sudden he goes off like that? And what was doing now? Peeking over TJ saw him pouring the contents of the various bottles in the sink and mixing them into the water. Smelling something sharp and metallic he turned back around. Before he had the chance to ask what was in the sink he felt the bed shake as JoJo sat right behind him with a small container and a paintbrush in hand.

"A'ight, don't finch. If ya do I'ma mess up," He said, coming through TJ's hair with his hands.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" TJ asked him, whipping his head around to face him.

"Chill the fuck out, ok?" JoJo told him. "I'm doin' you a favor. Turn back around." Wary of what he was up to, TJ still turned around. He didn't have much, so there wasn't anything to lose in letting JoJo doing whatever he was up to. He Felt JoJo push his head down and begin to use the paintbrush to put the substance that was in the container on his hair. Slowly, it moved to the top of head and around the edges until it was completely in his hair. The smell from his was strong, and had a metallic hint to it. The fumes were making it hard to breathe, and he started to think that his was an attempt by JoJo to kill him until the boy stood up and tossed a bottle of shampoo to him.

"Go take shower and watch it out," He said. "And wash ya ass too. You stink."

'First he says he's helping me and then he tells me I stink,' TJ thoughts as he made his way to the showers. 'What's his deal?' Stepping in to the communal showers he saw that now one was in there. Soon he was under the showerhead with the best water pressure rinsing off the strange solution in his hair. He had no idea what it was supposed to do, but he just didn't want his hair to fall out. As messy and unruly has he often kept it, he did like his hair. He just didn't like combing and washing it. Throwing one towel around his waist and another across his shoulders to catch the falling water still in his hair he walked back to his room. Entering he saw JoJo sitting back on his own bed, reading. Catching sight of him, a smile grew on JoJo's face.

"I ain't think it would work," JoJo said. "But there it is. Ya' welcome."

"Welcome? For what?"

"You still dunno? Look in the mirra." After sending JoJo a look of anger, TJ turned around and faced the mirror hanging on the wall. Seeing what was staring back at him, he dropped everything he had brought to the showers to wash. Bringing his now shaking hands to his head he ran his fingers through his hair to make sure that it was him the mirror and not some strange effect of the lighting that he couldn't explain. It was him alright. And no longer was his hair the soft chestnut color he was fond off. Now it was a very light, very noticeable blonde.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR?" He yelled.

"Are you retarded? I bleached it, obviously…"

"CHANGE IT BACK!"

"First of all, I dunno who you yellin' at 'cause it certainly ain't me," Said JoJo as he walked out of the room. "Don't forget that yo'ass is still a scrub, Scrub. Stop your bitchin'." Running is fingers through his hair, TJ hoped the action would somehow restore his natural color but it didn't work. He stared at the mirror, looking at the almost unrecognizable person staring back at him.

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><p><strong>Um, I'm getting really good at managing my time with school work which allowed me to update this so soon. So maybe I can find a way to update at least once a week. <strong>

**Donna Nnov:….ah, yes; JoJo. I actually based him off of an old friend of mine. :) I'm glad you as well as RandallXSpinelli like him. I didn't think anyone would like him at all. As far as anything happening with him, we'll just have to wait and see. :)**

**RandallXSpinell: Yeah about the Chinese food….I kind of feel bad for saying this so soon but I think it's necessary to clear things up; the kids didn't sneak the food in, the guard did it. He two kids fought because the guards MADE them fight and the one who won got the food as a prize. D: Horrible I know. And the teacher thing was completely random. At the moment when I was typing that part I flashed back to the math class I had last semester and how, as an English major, I believes it serves me no purpose other than numbering page even though I know it's important…**

**Please Review! Those keep me going!**


	17. Sight For Sore Eye

**Hiya, folks! Sorry about the wait. I'm free this weekend, so I'm going to be working in high gear. I made this chapter extra-long as a present for you all reading! I hope you enjoy it 'cause my fingers hurt.**

**Now, before you all starting reading I want you to know that this chapter has one graphic scene. So be prepared for that. And it gets a little confusing at one point but it will be explained next chapter. **

**Read On!**

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><p><em><strong>TWO DAYS LATER<strong>_

"God, why is this place so small?"

Pacing back and forth in his cell, TJ was trying to slow down his racing thoughts. In the past few days his mild paranoia had gotten much worse. The walls seemed to close in on him where ever he was, whether that be in the classroom, the open area in the dorms, or in the actual cells. He was pretty sure that there was SOMEONE watching him at all times even though he couldn't see them. No matter what he did, he could feel someone's watching him all the time and there wasn't anything he could do to be 100 percent by himself. Being in his cell was the worst. It was the smallest room, and the walls always appeared to be closing in him faster than anywhere else. Once it was 9 p.m., the cells were locked down, and the option of going outside was not there making his paranoia on his mind for the rest of the night.

"Stop pacin' the floor, Freckles, damn," Said JoJo not bothering to look up from his book. "Yo' crazy ass is makin' me nervous. Shit. Sit the fuck down…."

"There isn't any room in here….." TJ mumbled while combing his fingers through his now blonde hair. "I can't stand being in here…" After a day of accepting the new color of his hair he had gotten used to it. He still missed his brown hair and thought that he looked better with it, but he didn't look half-bad with the blond. Because his hair was bleached he knew sooner or later his hair would grow back with the brown color he was so used to. Then he could cut the blonde off.

"You know what? I don't care," JoJo snapped. "Shut the fuck up, ok? Tryin' to read…."

"….it's just…..it's just…..God!" He yelled, punching the wall the bed were standing against. He hated this. He knew his fears were irrational and unfounded, but they remained with him nonetheless. With the fear constantly on his mind he could focus on moving up the food chain.

"Hey! You're shakin' the bed!" JoJo yelled at him. "Take that shit ova somewhere else!"

"There isn't anywhere else!" Said TJ. "The room is shrinking!"

"That ain't my problem," he said setting his book down and turning off the lights. "It's midnight. Go'ta bed."

'How am I supposed to sleep with these walls closing in on me?' TJ thought as he forced himself to lay down. 'I'm gonna wake up and the walls are gonna be crushing me!' He was beginning to think that he was going crazy. The walls couldn't possibly be closing in on him, and even if there was someone watching everyone, there was no way they could be watched 24/7. It was like being in the box all over again. Closing his eyes he attempted to ease his irrational fear, but all it did was make it worse. He had to sleep; he hadn't slept very much in the last few days. So he forced himself to stay still and eventually fell asleep.

**~*~THE NEXT DAY~*~**

"Dude, what's up with your roommate?"

Looking up from the book he was reading, JoJo addressed the question that was asked of him from one of his 'friends.' From his seat at one of the tables in the dorms he looked across the area and saw TJ siting on the floor, back against the wall and legs brought up to his chest and mumbling something or other to himself while playing with a lock of his hair. JoJo wouldn't have let him, or anyone else for that matter, know, but he had watched other inmates come in and go through phases while they stayed; though some, including him, didn't go through those phases at all. But TJ wasn't an exception to the phenomena, so JoJo kept an eye on him, just to make sure he doesn't lose his fucking mind. Once he had to bunk with a kid who had a habit of killing small animals and was two steps away from moving up to people. That kid was soon transferred over to somewhere else, but he wasn't going to risk that again.

However, he could also tell which ids were like that and which weren't, and so far Freckles didn't seem to be that type. But he was starting to go a little stir crazy.

"I dunno," JoJo said, returning to his book. "He'll be fine…"

JoJo wasn't the only one who noticed the behavior. A few of the guard were conversing amongst themselves about it as well. The majority of them were the guards who were responsible for keeping the inmate from harming each other, and routinely spent their time bring the inmate to and from the white rooms. The white rooms made their jobs a lot easier, since it was much more convenient to put the unruly and unstable kids there instead of breaking up fights every single day. So they constantly kept a look out for signs that any of the inmates might lose their mind. Of course, the people overhead had certain criteria to call for being put in a white hall, but they kept an eye on anyone they suspected would soon meet those criteria.

While some of the guards put him on their 'to watch' list, TJ was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He knew he needed something, something that he knew he had before but couldn't quite put a name to it. He was certain that he was beginning to cross the line into craziness at this point, but that wasn't the issue at hand, just one of them. He was always able to find something to calm his nerves, and he was trying to think of what that would be for this particular day and fast. Looking up and across the open area he could see a few other inmates getting in line in front of the closed window in the wall that was the commissary. Since he had gotten that little prison issued card he hadn't bothered to use it to buy anything.

'But I could go for a soda right about now,' He thought. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the card that was issued to him and got into the slow moving line. He had no idea what was sold there but he hoped it wasn't sold out. Eventually he made it to the front of the line and the first thing he saw was the junk food and soda. After buying two sodas, Pepsi's to be exact, he headed back to his room to drink them. They were ice cold, and because there wasn't a way to keep them cold he wanted to drink them as soon as he could. He was stopped when he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder.

"If you know what's best for you, you would give me the soda's," Said Tommy Gun after he spun him around.

"No! I bought them with MY MONEY," TJ told him. "If you want then you go buy it with yours!"

"Did you hit your head on somethin' and forget that you're a _**SCRUB**_?" Tommy Gun snapped at him. "I said give them to me!"

"And I said no!"

"Yeah, okay," He said. "Fine. Go ahead and take 'em. You better watch your ass when we're outside, SCRUB."

'Yeah, whatever,' TJ thought as he continued his way to his room. He hadn't seen Tommy Gun for the last week and had hoped that he found someone else to pick on. Apparently not. Twisting the cap off of one of the bottles he downed half of it in five seconds flat. 'This tastes like gold after not having it for a week.' Figuring that Tommy Gun would search his room if he's not in it, he hid the last unopened bottle underneath his mattress. There weren't many places for him to hide anything at all, but that was the best place he could think of.

"DETWEILER!" He jumped up when he suddenly heard his name being shouted. Turning around he saw a guard standing in the doorway. "You have a visitor!"

**~*U*~**

"I was starting to think you weren't ever going to visit."

"I said I was going to. I've just been busy."

During the long and painful (the shoes they give the inmates obviously weren't designed to be comfortable) walk to the visitors room TJ wondered if his parents had come back to visit him again so soon. He honestly didn't expected them to come back so soon, what with work and all. But that wasn't the case. The second he entered the room he could see that the person who had come to visit him was Principal Prickly. The first thing he did was run up and give the man a hug, an action which surprised the both of them. After that they sat across each other at one of the tables.

"I mean I knew you weren't gonna come right away 'cause you run the school and everything," TJ said. "But you know, _still_. I'm glad you came though. The school years almost over; is the school gonna be repaired by the time school starts again?"

"It should be," The principal said. "They already started doing repairs and rewiring the place. Most of its just replacing the tiles and repairing the walls. Everything next year will be new. New walls, new desks and chairs, new paint, and a new principal to run it all."

"That's good I guess….wonder if anyone else will start pulling pranks to replace me," TJ said, not paying much attention. "Wait, a _new _principal? What do you mean? You're not gonna run Third Street anymore?"

"Not after this school year's over," Prickly told him. "I'm retiring over the summer. I actually would've been here last weekend but I had to start working on all the paperwork….."

"It's not because of everything I did is it?" TJ asked.

"No, no. It nothing like that," The principal reassured him. "I just can't work for a system that would work so hard to put an innocent student in Juvenile Detention."

"Oh. That's a good reason…."

"But enough about that. What I want to know is what happened to your face?" He asked. "_Did you run into a brick wall_?"

"This kid had his friend hold me back and punched me in the face," TJ explained. "I dunno what his problem is, I didn't even say anything to him! He obviously has some problems that have yet to be addressed."

"I see. And would you like to explain why you're blonde now?"

"Because my asshole roommate bleached it," TJ hissed. "The guy barely says to words to me since I came here, and all of a sudden he decides to bleach my hair. Now I gotta wait until enough grows back in to cut it off. I hate it; it doesn't even fit me. I'd rather be a redhead than blonde."

"Don't worry. You have enough time in here to wait for it to grow out," Said Principal Prickly. "Is the school even worth asking about?"

"Nope. The teacher is nice and everything, and the work is easy, but I'm bored! I never thought I would be asking for harder work! It's stuff the third graders do! Just because we're in jail doesn't mean we're retarded!"

"At least it'll be easy to keep your grades up. That's a plus."

"Ugh…."

"Your parents visited you already, right?" The principal asked.

"Yeah. A couple of days ago. It didn't go over too well," TJ said. "I was kinda pissed that they didn't visit for a week. But whatever. Hey, was there a huge party after I left? Be honest."

"…..a couple of people did throw a party. I thought it disgusting; if they were going to be happy about something like this then that's fine but throwing a party? That's too much."

"Nah, let 'em have their fun," He said. "Just wait until I get out of here; all hell will break loose and they won't know what hit 'em."

"Try to stay out of trouble, okay? The last thing you want is to have your sentence extended."

"They can DO that?"

"Yep." Suddenly a loud bell signaling the end of visitation rang and bounced off the cement walls.

"You're gonna come and visit me again, right?" TJ hopefully asked.

"Next Friday or Saturday," Said Principal Prickly. "I can't come during the week because I have to run the school, but I'll come on Friday or Saturday, Okay?" TJ nodded just as the guard came over to escort him back to the dorms. Since turning around while walking could get him in trouble he couldn't turn back to get one last look at the room before walking down the long, dark hallways that connected the dorms to the visiting room. Since it was Saturday and there was no school, kids were scattered just about everywhere in the open area carrying on in their own business. Entering his room, TJ saw that JoJo wasn't there, but the soda he left there was. Everyone would be heading outside soon, so he drank what was left. There was no way that Tommy Gun was going to get this.

**~*~U~*~**

Sitting at his usual spot outside, TJ watched the other kids run around, play some form of baseball with sticks, and general converse with each other. He was going over what he learned in the first week he's been there. If there was any form of hierarchy other than the 'scrubs' and the 'not scrubs,' it was very well hidden. People seemed for the most part to stay out of each other's way. The same kids hung around the same people doing the same thing to keep themselves occupied during their sentence.

All he could come up with to occupy his time was trying to figure out the social system and that wasn't going very well. Maybe there wasn't a system like it was always portrayed in the movies. Everyone, except Tommy Gun in his case, stayed out of each other's way and fights rarely occurred. Most the fights were initiated by the guards in exchange for take-out food for the winner. Otherwise, everyone was pretty mellow.

Waking a deep breath, he reached out to a stray stick in front of him, but was stopped when his arms were grabbed and he was pulled to his feet. Looking behind him he saw that it was the twins that were always with Tommy Gun, so he couldn't be far off.

"I dunno who the fuck you think you are," Tommy Gun said as he stepped out of the gathering crowd. "But I'm about to knock you back down to earth. I'll give you one last chance to give me the soda, _Scrub._"

"What's your issue?" TJ snapped at him. "I don't even TALK to you! No I'm not giving you _my_ soda! Fuck off!" Tommy Gun huffed at his response. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled something out, opened it, but kept it out of sight.

"I'm gonna explain something to you, a'ight?" Tommy Gun said calmly, but unnervingly. "I hurt people. I don't give a damn about who it is, I hurt people. And I have no problem going out and playing afterwards. I'll fucking stab a kid in the chest and go watch Spongebob right after and laugh."

"Okay, and….?"

"And. Okay, okay. Roscoe, Doffer, hold him still," He ordered the twins. As they readjusted their grasp, Tommy Gun brought the pocket knife from his back pocket up to his face and looked it over. He polished it with his shirt and made sure it was locked in place before approached. Once he was close enough he reached out and grabbed TJ by his throat with a grip that was close to choking. Since he was a good four inches taller than him, Tommy Gun had no trouble looking in his eyes. He smiled as he slightly tightening his grip. Clenching the base of the pocket knife in his hand, he quickly slashed the blade from the top left of TJ's forehead, across his left eye, and down the side of nose.

He screamed in what can only be described as pure agony. The blood mixed with tears and poured from the fresh open wound down is face and onto the dirt. He could feel the blade scrape against the bone as Tommy Gun repeatedly slashed over the scar. He couldn't count how many times the blade was used on him, but he knew that he wanted to get away from it. Just as he thought it wouldn't end he was pushed on the ground when a guard blew a whistle to make the crowd disperse. Before Tommy Gun left, he gave him a few swift kicks to his chest. Coughing from having the wind knocked out of him, red filled his vision before he slowly passed out.

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

_Journal,_

_It's so weird not being able to recognize yourself in the mirror. I know it's me, but at the same time, it's not. I can't really explain it any further than that. First it was just the hair. It would grow back out and go back to normal, but now there's this scar to deal with. At least the bruises from before are gone._

_I have all this packed up energy, too. But there's nothing to do with it except think and I'm tired of doing that. I've kind of resorted to the only other thing I could think of, and that's not a good thing I'm sure. It has to be doing damage. But I'll do anything to get Alex to leave me alone. _

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

_**SIX DAYS LATER**_

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, TJ looked at his reflection in the mirror. A side effect from his hair being bleached was that it didn't like to go in one direction. The front stuck up in a curl, the right side was in an upward swoop, while the left was the only part acting like it did before it was bleached. His hat was confiscated when he arrived so he couldn't cover the mismatched hair. Running his fingers over his new scar he winced from the minor pain it caused. He had to be taken to the nearby hospital to get treated for it and was told by the doctors that since it went down to the bone it was permanent and would never go away. It was ugly and jagged running from the left of his forehead, his eyelids, and the side of his nose. What was worse than the scar was that when the cut went over his eye, it went over his pupil and iris. As a result, he was now and forever will be blind in his left eye. The blue color of that eye was now dulled considerably and was noticeable from a distance as well as close up.

Brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his face, he head out of his room and sat against the wall, watching everyone go about with their daily business as well as his own. Swing his head back and forth, he banged his head against the concrete wall, though not hard enough to making his dizzy or to actually stop. It was a light hit, sufficient to distract him from the fact that he had nothing else to do. As much as getting scarred hurt, it still took his attention off of him being there in Juvenile Hall for a short time. He didn't want to be there, and that bit helped. The food was repulsive, the school repetitive, and the days mind numbing, so if banging his head was what it took to not think about it, he was going to do it as often as he could.

_"You're crazier than I thought."_

"Shut up."

_ "Ha! Just look at yourself. Pathetic. Oh, if everyone from Third Street could see you now they would have a good laugh."_

"I said shut up!"

"Any reason you talkin' to yourself, Freckles?" Jumping from surprise, TJ looked behind him and saw JoJo standing, looking down at him.

"I'm not talking to myself," TJ mumbled. "I'm talking to Alex."

"Uh-huh. Look, the guard says you got a visitor," JoJo told him. "Sent me over here to tell you. I swear they keep getting lazier and lazier…" As JoJo walked away, TJ walked over to the guard standing by the door. He was lead down the normal hallway to the visitor's room but took a turn to somewhere else.

He wondered who the visitor would be. His parents didn't visit when he was in the hospital for a few days, and Principal Prickly said he couldn't visit until at least tomorrow. He knew not to even have the thought of anyone else from Third Street coming to see him in his head, so with those possibilities crossed out, he was at a loss. Reaching the end of the hall he was lead into the last room. Inside he could see a table, two chairs, and Mr. Simmons occupying one of those chairs.

"Mr. Simmons? What are you doing here?" TJ asked, confused.

"The court wants me to counsel you while you're here," Said Mr. Simmons. "I'm supposed to come every two weeks."

"Oh well, gee it's nice to know the court cares about me being sane after putting me in the seventh layer of hell," TJ said as he sat down. "Nice."

"How are feeling today?" Mr. Simmons asked him. "How's life…_here_."

"I wanna go home, Mr. Simmons. There, I said it. I want to go home. I hate it here!"

"Well juvie isn't meant to be a place to enjoy; it's meant for punishment."

"How can they punish me for something I didn't do? How does that make any sense? They only wanted to get rid of me and saw this as the perfect opportunity! I got screwed over, Mr. Simmons! The jury was against me the minute the trial started! My own lawyer didn't give a shit! My parents think it's good for me to be here! The only three people in the world that'll listen to me is myself, Principal Prickly, and you. Everyone else couldn't care less."

"I see. And what about that scar? How'd you get that?"

"I was cut. Ten times over the same spot," Said TJ. "I had to go to the hospital. And now I gotta look at it every day. Matches the blond hair don't you think?" ]

_"It matches perfectly. An ugly scar for an ugly person."_

"God, will you shut the fuck up?"

"Who are you talking to?" Mr. Simmons asked, puzzled at the sudden outburst.

"Alex."

"Who's Alex?"

"I dunno," Said TJ. "he's just some kid how keeps following me and talking to me when I really don't want him to."

"Is he in the room?"

"He's in the corner," He told him. "I wish he would shut up…" Writing all of this down, Mr. Simmons had a new set of questions to ask, mostly about 'Alex.' He couldn't see anyone else in the room, so he was sure that this had to be all in his head.

"TJ, I want you to listen very closely okay?" Mr. Simmons instructed. "What does Alex say to you? Does he ask you to do anything?"

"No. He just wants to make me feel bad," TJ said. "I don't feel bad for anything I did. It's not working so I dunno why he won't shut-up."

"How long has he been with you?"

"Couple of months."

"And you know that no one else can see him right?"

"Yeah, but I don't get it," He said. "He's right there! How can you NOT see him? How he NOT be the first thing you notice?" The two continued their conversation for another hour. Once the time was up the door opened and the guard, as well as the Warden came in. As TJ was lead out by the guard, the Warden stayed behind and talked to Mr. Simmons.

Instead of going right back to what he was doing in the dorms, TJ was lead to the adjacent door that he had seen other inmates be dragged through by the guards. Inside there was another door leading to another room. The door was obviously there to stop the noise from coming through because once he went through it, it was loud. A long hall with multiple doors on each side held the inmates that were brought there. Walking past them he could hear their screams and yells at the guards that were supervising them as well as a few slams and bangs coming from the individual rooms. Peaking inside he could see that there was only one person for each room, something he was thankful for. He was told to stop at the end of the hall in front of the last room on the left as the guard opened it.

Inside it was completely white, not an ounce of color anywhere. The walls, the floors, and even the ceiling was covered in a soft and fluffy cushion, making it hard for him to walk. There wasn't a bed to sleep on, just the floor, but there was a blanket sitting in the corner. Looking around he saw that there was no window like in the other rooms. Sitting down on the floor he laid on his back as he heard the large metal door shut and the footsteps of the guards walking away.

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><p><strong>Out of all the students at Third Street who do all think would be the most likely to visit him in juvie? I want to do a chapter about one of the students visiting him but I can't pick one…<strong>

**In other news, a friend of mine and I were talking about how movie directors where making old cartoons into movies and I asked would they ever make a live-action Recess. I personally think that if they did, it would either be REALLY REALLY GOOD, or PAINFULLY BAD. It was an interesting conversation too. But they would probably screw it up by making Spinelli a girly girl and making Vince white. Or worse, put them in high school. D: I remember THAT conversation…..**

**RandallXSpinelli: Sorry about the dialect. :3 That's how the person I based him off of talked and I'm trying to keep that intact. But he usually doesn't carry that much slang in the way he talks like in his rant in the last chapter. That only happens when he's upset…..what I'm trying to say is the slang that he usually has is easier to understand when he's not angry. :)**

**Donna Nnov: I have trouble picturing him as a blond too, but it was either blonde or a redhead, I thought being a redhead would make him look kind of creepy 'cause he has freckles too…..I don't think I need to go into further detail on why I couldn't make him a redhead….XD **

**Please Review!**


	18. Alex

**Hi readers!**

**Hope you al enjoyed the last chapter. Like I promised a lot of what happened in the last chapter will be explained in this one. It'll actually take up the bulk of the chapter so there's that to look forward to.**

**You all know when you're watching a movie and they say the title of the movie? I did it here and I sort of feel bad for it because I think it's kind of cheesy. But it does fit in. **

**Go forth and…..Read on!**

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><p><em><strong>FOUR DAYS LATER<strong>_

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

_Journal,_

…_.I'm sorry…..Did I really do all those things back at Third Street? No wonder no one wants to be around me. I wouldn't want to be around me after all of that…..I really am sorry though. I'm sure no one will accept my apology but I think I should apologize anyway. _

…_.I don't think I knew what I was doing. I'm not say that's an excuse, but maybe I just didn't know. I can't blame everyone for how they feel about me. I did it to myself. I did it all to myself…I'm a monster. I think….I think I belong here. _

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

After hearing the bolts close the large metal door, TJ thought that being in a white room was perfect. No questionable roommate to do things to him, no bully to bother him on a daily basis, and no fear of being watched 24/7. And it was perfect. Now that he was a lone he could finally organize his thoughts; something he couldn't do with all the noise in the dorms. Silence was truly golden. The white rooms were sound-proof, so the screams and yells from the other kids could only be heard if he opened a slot on the door. But there were a few downsides to being alone. He was in that room for 23 hours out of the day, every day. No school and no time outside. The only time he was out of the room was when the guards allowed everyone to bathe and eat. Still, compared to everything else he had been through, it was paradise. That didn't last however, because one day Alex managed to sneak into the room after the guards closed the door.

The last three days without having the little bustard on his back did wonders. Now it was like Alex was trying to make up for lost time. Was it too much now to ask to be alone for a while? Alex just had to come around and ruin his time. Lying on the soft and plush floor, he stared at the ceiling refusing to make eye contact with the little boy standing against the wall. How could no one else see him? How could no one else notice the kid with the twisted horns on both sides of his head, the claws, red eyes, and in a suit that constantly followed him where ever he went? He was RIGHT THERE! Was he going crazy or something?

Now this kid was going to keep talking to him and he didn't want to hear it. Alex wasn't this bad when he first showed up. The guy barely said anything. But now he felt the need to voice his opinion whenever he could.

_"Well, well, well. Looks like you're finally where you belong. Away from everyone else."_

"Don't you have someone else to bother?" TJ said to the person he saw in the corner. "I don't belong here. I deserve to be home."

_"Of course you belong here. You're finally some place where you can't make other people lives miserable. It's perfect. Locked in a room somewhere three hours away from home for God knows how long. If everyone knew they'd throw another party. Life couldn't get any better for them with their little firebug put away."_

"I don't _deserve_ to be here. I didn't set the school on fire! I just got blamed for it!"

_"So what if you didn't set the school on fire? You did more than enough to warrant you being here. Remember what you did to the third graders class pet? Remember the time you broke into everyone's house, stole what was most valuable to them, destroyed it, and left the remains on the playground? Remember when you took apart the jungle gym? What about everything else? Whether you set the school on fire or not, you deserve to be here and you know it."_

"Will you shut-up?" TJ yelled. "Being here is bad enough without you down my throat."

_"Why should I shut-up? Is it making you angry? Is it making you angry that you're hearing what you know is right? You know that no one wants you around them. And why? Because there's something __**wrong**__ with you. Your 'friends,' they can't stand the thought of you. They don't even want anyone to know that they ever associated with you. And your parents? They're the same way. Who would want to be known as the parents who raised a little defect and released the little monster upon society? No one would want that reputation. No one would want a little monster like you in their family let alone as a son and no one would want someone like that as a friend. And why should they visit? You're finally out of their way. At least they don't have to pay for you to be here like at the Diamond Ranch Academy. It's perfect; the demon spawn is locked away with his own kind."_

"Just go away!" TJ said, turning onto his side.

_ "And that's all you are. A defect, a monster, a burden on society. Because there's something __**wrong**__with you. You're __**broken**__ and no one cares enough to get you fixed; it's more convenient to simply throw you away like the piece of trash you are. What a sad excuse of a human being you are, little monster."_

'He's calling me a monster when he looks like the devil,' TJ thought, trying to block out everything Alex was saying.

_"I may LOOK like one, but at least I don't ACT like one," Said Alex. "Only a devil would hang a helpless child over a building. Only a devil would bomb a playground. And only a devil sets a school full of children on fire. You know as well as I do that you set that fire. You just don't want to admit it. Only a broken defect would set a full school on fire. That's all you are, and that's all you ever will be; broken and sick. And there's nothing you can do about it."_

"I did not set the school on fire!" Yelled TJ. "I KNOW that I didn't start the fire!"

_"Sure. If that's what you want to believe, monster. We BOTH know the truth."_

Pulling the blanket over him, TJ closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. Sleeping was the only way he couldn't be talked to by Alex. He was safe in his dreams from the insults. The last thing he wanted was to go through a barrage of insults thrown at him by someone who may or may not exist. Being in juvie was bad enough on its own. Drifting off into sleep Alex's voice was the last thing he heard.

_"You know I'm right."_

**~*~U~*~**

"How long was I out…?" TJ asked himself as he started to wake up. He looked around for any sign of Alex in the room; luckily Alex was gone. Being locked in a room without a clock threw off his idea of what time of day it was. All he had to monitor time was when the guards came and brought him out to eat. The lights were always on making sleeping a difficult task and it was beginning to make him a little nauseous when he walked on the uneven floor. But he was happy because Alex wasn't there to bother him and plague his thoughts. Now he could think clearly.

_**You're finally some place where you can't make other people's lives miserable. **_

'First of all I don't belong here,' He thought, trying to shake it off. Juvie, which was a miniature jail, was for kids that committed a crime. He didn't set the school on fire, so he didn't think he committed any crime. He was here on false charges. 'And I didn't make people's lives miserable.'

Just because he played a few pranks on people that doesn't mean they were miserable. Sure they went home with a few cuts and bruises, and lived in perpetual fear of what he would do next, and he smiled whenever his peers tried to confront him, and…..hurt them since the six grade….but that didn't make their lives miserable, did it? Maybe it was a little bad but 'miserable'? Wasn't that sort of a stretch?

'Of course it is. Everyone was just exaggerating. I know my parents…..well yeah they had a little trouble controlling me…and wanted to send me to a reform school but that…was I really that bad that they would want to end me away?'

_**You did more than enough to warrant you being here.**_

That's where he knew Alex was wrong. Playing pranks shouldn't be enough to be put in juvie. Even the harsh pranks he pulled. Counting them all up and rating them on scale from one to ten based on severity, he STILL didn't think he belonged there.

'Even hanging that kindergartener over the school wasn't bad enough for this,' He thought. '….but I could've dropped her. Then she would've gotten killed. Did I really do that?' He thought back to that event and remembered when he was told to put her down. He put her down on the roof and she backed away with the most terrified look on her face before running away from him.

Thinking about the time he hung the little girl over the school brought up many other times he did things on the more extreme side of his pranks. The time he broke into the school to set up a prank for later in the day and went into the third graders classroom just for the hell of it. He heard the sound of the wheel turning in the class pets, a mouse, cage. Taking a break he opened the cage and held the mouse in his hands. He played with the little animal until it bit his finger. Angry, he had placed two fingers, one on the top and bottom of its throat, and squeezed until the tiny creature stopped struggling. Once he let go it took a few seconds for the mouse to come to, but he repeated what he did before, only this time he quickly twisted its neck, killing it. Afterwards he put it back in its cage and went back to doing what he came there for.

'But that was just _one little mouse_," TJ thought. 'It doesn't mean anything.' His thoughts drifted towards the end of sixth grade when everyone threatened to get revenge for what he was doing to them. He knew the threat was pure bluff, but it still stuck with him. He didn't want to take chances, so he was going to get them before they got him. He ditched school and broke into their rooms, taking their most valuable possessions. He did whatever it took to destroy it, and poured the remains on the playground for everyone to see. He choose to break the irreplaceable things; heirlooms, trophies, beloved things like that for the strongest effect. Once the students saw their more precious items turned into a pile of indistinguishable material, they only could cry over what was lost.

'….yeah, but that….they just over reacted,' He told himself. '…they just….overreacted. Just like with the fire.'

The fire. The reason he was here in the first place. Alex kept insisting that he set the fire and he was only denying it because he didn't want to believe it. But TJ knew that wasn't true. Just because he wasn't in class when it started, and was seen walking away from the area the fire picked up, that didn't mean he started it. Yeah, he was high when he walked to the side of the school to get his backpack and had the last little bit of the lit blunt between his fingers….and tossed it to the side of the trash cans…no. He was absolutely, one hundred percent sure he wasn't the source of the fire.

'That little thing couldn't have started a fire,' He thought. 'It was barely a flame. It couldn't have started a fire. I'm sure. I'm….pretty sure it didn't. It couldn't have…'

_**That's all you are, and that's all you ever will be; broken and sick.**_

'Man….I did all of that," He quietly said to himself. Bringing his knees to his chest, he settled into a corner and was left with his thoughts. "….I'm a monster…"

With the reality of what he did to the lives of everyone around him now in front on him, a few new things dawned on him. First, even if he didn't start the fire, he didn't plenty of things to be in juvie. Hanging a kid over the school? That should've been why he was here, not a false charge of arson. But now he was here, and there was nothing he could do about it. He also understood why everyone wanted him here; he was nothing but nuisance to them, and they were happy to get some relief from his presence. Who wouldn't? The kids were sick of being pranked every day, and his parents were probably exasperated of trying to control him. Now he was somewhere far away from them, and they were finally free. Apologizing would do no good; who in their right mind would accept an apology from him?

Lastly, TJ knew a part of him wasn't right. Something was wrong with him (he knew that when he realized that he wouldn't, no, _**couldn't**_ listen to the orders of those in charge). Words when in one ear and out the other, and while he was working on his next scheme, the part of his mind that sorted right from wrong turned off. Any other time, it would be on, but not when it mattered. It didn't appear like he would be getting help for it anytime soon, and being in here only promised to make it worse.

And who would bother to help him with it? Hell, who would want to come anywhere near him after everything he did? He only had himself to blame for that. It was his actions that drove his friends and parents away. Who wouldn't try to get away from the kid who basically….made everyone's lives miserable. With these thoughts now buzzing around in his head and not going away anytime soon it was all he had. He had no idea when he was going to be let out of this room, as all he had to keep himself occupied was what Alex had told him.

_**And that's all you are. A defect, a monster, a burden on society. Because there's something wrong**__**with you.**_

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><p><em><em>**I'm glad I was able to update twice this week for you all. Next update should be….next weekend, just like this one.**

**Donna Nnov: Yeah, Tommy Gun will be addressed later. Like three years from the story's current point. It'll be good, I promise. He's actually there for a reason, not just to beat the shit out of TJ. And yes, I was very concerned with making him a redhead. Couldn't do it. It's just plain creepy. :) Nothing against redheads though.**

**RandallXSpinelli: That's why I sort of don't want them to make a live-action movie, but it's kind of why I WANT them to at the same time, because the show is pretty realistic compared to other cartoons. But I know that it would probably ruin the whole series so I choose to not want it made. EVER. But if they could somehow get the original writers for the show then by all means…Anyways, things kind of go in downward spiral from now, but it'll get better. Next chapter will be one that I've been waiting to write since I decided to write this story. Can't wait to get it out! And Alex, he's….strange. I would tell you more about him, but that would spoil the fun. But he does serve a purpose. I am going to do chapter about life at Third Street without him, but it won't be for a while, until he's 15 years old.**

**MaxGoof1996: First I would like to say I love your avatar! ;) I got one of him too, but it's just a picture I drew of him as an infant/toddler. Anyways, to answer your question of how he looks now. He's lost most of his baby fat. Some if it's still there but most of its gone since he's thirteen and starting puberty. He's taller too. Ah, I would say that when he was nine he was about oh, 4 feet seven inches (the average height for a nine year old) so now he would be around 5 foot 3 inches, give or take a few inches depending on how you want to imagine it. His freckles have become more pronounced. Don't forget that scar he has now as well. I'll also tell you a little why he's acting like I'm making him act. I watched a few episodes before I started writing for this fandom and part of me thought that when the time comes for the kids to go through a rebellious phase, it would hit him the worst because he's already acting rebellious on his own. That and I always thought that something would happen that would set him off and lead him down the path to do these things. I'm planning a chapter too go more in-depth on that issue. Won't be for a while though!**

**Please Review!**


	19. Letters From Afar

**Hey, guys. **

**Life threw me an ugly curveball, and I don't play baseball. I was originally going to update this story on Tuesday since I had no homework, but I had to go to Urgent Care because I was covered in itchy blotches and my lips were swelling really fast and really bad. But I'm okay now. It was just an allergic reaction to something. Don't know what it is but It's something….just gotta take these pills and update on the weekend.**

**60,000 words! I'd never thought I would type that many words! Just 40,000 more to 100,000! Can't wait for that. Wish I could put this much focus into writing this book I have in mind. Oh well; its all good.**

**For all of you who pay attention to the title and are probably going 'OMG' right now, stop. :) The title doesn't refer to the main character in the story. It just is. It's going to be explained in here….promise. Then we get to the real fun next chapter! :)**

**Go Forth…and Read!**

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><p> "How long are they gonna keep me I here? My whole sentence?" Pacing back and forth on the uneven floor, TJ was trying to figure out how long it's been since he was first placed in this room. Walking wasn't an easy task since the floor was made up of the same soft and fluffy material the walls were made up of. It was probably like that to keep the inmates from hurting themselves as that was all they could do in these rooms. Sitting down in a corner, he decided that it would be best seeing that after getting used to walking on the floor in here, he had lost his footing multiple times when the guards led him out to eat or bathe.<p>

The unnerving silence was both a blessing and a curse. TJ was now away from all the screams and yelling of the dorms, but at the same time, the silence allowed the last person he wanted to see slip into the room for the sole purpose of making his time there not worth it at all. And the strange thing was, Alex wasn't always like this. When he first came out of thin air, he was cool. He didn't taunt him for days on end, or made him feel like he does now. No, Alex was a friend, maybe a little less than friend, but for simplicity's sake, he would've called him a friend. Now the little demon bastard was a thorn in his side that needed to be remove with surgery and he didn't have any medical insurance.

_"Look at the little broken defect."_

Since the last few times Alex chose to visit him, TJ learned that the only way to get him go away was to ignore him at any cost. It was hard, what with all his comments and ruthless attempts to make him pay attention to what was being said. If it worked, TJ made sure not to show it; that would only encourage Alex to stay longer.

_"All huddled in his little corner of the world trying to escape what he knows is true. It's not going to work, little defect. You can stay in that corner all you want, but you still did what you did and you know it."_

Closing his eyes, TJ tried to imagine being anywhere but in that room. The playground, at home, the park, anywhere but there would be paradise.

_"It's not gonna work. No matter how hard you try to imagine, you'll still be here; the land of broken kids. There's something **wrong** with you, get it? But who cares? You're here now, where you're no longer a problem." _Turning onto his side, TJ faced the wall and continued to try and ignore him, but it was starting to falter. Feeling the sting of the tears coming to his eyes he closed them tighter in an attempt to stop them from falling but they always found a way to despite his efforts. _"Little monster, I want to hear you say it. Say you're broken and you can't be fixed. Say you're a defect. Say you're a burden on everyone around you! Say there's something wrong with you!"_

'Just don't say anything to him and he'll go away,' TJ assured himself. 'He'll just go away like always. Just don't say anything…'

_"SAY IT! I want to hear you say it! I'll stay here forever until you say it!"_

"…..I'm broken and I can't be fixed," He managed to choke out. "There's something wrong with me. I'm a defect and I'm a burden on everyone around me."

_"And you know what the worst part of it is?" Alex taunted. "Even though you know this, you know you're still going to act the same way. You know you can't stop yourself. You know that once your sentence is over, you're going to start all over again. Maybe you'll set an orphanage on fire next time._ _Or push a kid into a freezing lake." _Hearing the familiar whoosh that signaled Alex departure, TJ knew that Alex had left, but didn't want to move from his position on the floor. Alex made him repeat those phrases on a daily basis and it still hurt to say them like the first time. Each time it sunk in deeper, and each time it took him longer to convince himself that it's not true. But one day there wasn't anything he could do to convince himself, and he started to believe it. Whether it was true there was something wrong with him, or he was some sort of defect didn't matter. It was painful either way. All he wanted now was someone to talk to about it.

TJ was sure that it had been at least a week since he was put in a white room. He hadn't seen the sun since he was first put there, but the guards would always announce what day it was when everyone was led out to breakfast. He hoped that his parents would've visited, but at the same time knew that wasn't likely. Then he noticed that Principal Prickly hadn't visited either. He would've believed that the man had given up on him as well if another inmate hadn't given him advice. He was told that inmates in the white rooms don't get visitors; they get letters written by those who would visit them if they weren't in the white rooms. So he wouldn't know if he had any visitors until the guards cared enough to give him a letter.

So until then, or least until Alex showed back up, he allowed his mind to wonder. What was life like at Third Street now? Probably a lot quieter without him there to raise hell. He knew that if he was acquitted of the charges he would take revenge on the students each and every opportunity he had. The nerve of those guys to say they thought he started that fire! Some punishment was due but it would never come. By the time he turned 21, he would've forgotten why he was there in the first place.

He could see the look on his former friends faces. He would bet on all he had that they were grinning ear to ear. Did he blame them? No. They had to right to be happen that the torment from him was gone and no longer a problem. What about his parents? They haven't as far as he knows visited him again, even though they said they would.

'Wouldn't it be funny if they adopted another kid just to replace me,' TJ thought. 'They probably would too. I wouldn't put it past them. Get another opportunity to raise the son they always wanted after screwing me up. Then again an adoption agency would be crazy to give them a kid with their background.' The sound of the tumbler to the metal door interrupted his thoughts. Sitting up he watched the door open and saw two guards standing outside. Since the only time the door was ever opened was when it was time to eat or bathe, he assumed that was the case.

"Detweiler, you're out," Said one of the guards. "We need this room from someone else so you're going back to the dorms." After walking over to the door he went through the standard procedure; handcuffed behind his back, and told to stand within the red line on the floor. Taking a single step outside that line would equal getting tackled and clubbed by the guard closest to you; it was considered to be an act of aggression. Reaching the end of the hall he was told to stop as a guard looked through a large stack of envelopes on a table before taking one. They continued until he reached the dorms. Before the guards left to go back to their post they took the handcuffs off gave him the one envelope from the desk.

"It's about time," TJ said to himself. He stretched and took a deep breath. Even though the air in the dorms was stale, it was a world of difference from the unventilated white rooms. "Thought they were gonna keep me in there forever. Looking over the envelope he saw that it had no name or address, it just had the purpose of containing the letter. But it was open. Unfolding the letter inside it didn't take him a full sentence to figure out who it was from.

_Detweiler,_

'Ah, it's from Principal Prickly,' He thought. 'Only he would call me by my last name. Okay, what else does it say…'

_I came to visit you on Saturday, but the people there told me that I couldn't and to just write this letter instead. I could've stayed home if I was just going to write a letter, but anyway, would you like to tell me why I can't see you? Are you under some form of punishment where you're not able to see visitors? _

_When you're able to, and that better be soon, mail me a letter back. I left my address at the bottom of the page. _

Rushing down to the bottom of the letter he saw that there was an address just like it said. Now the only problem was finding a envelope and stamp. Even he manage to accomplish that, where was he going to find a mailbox in this place?

'You would think the least they would let us do is write letters…' He thought. He started to head back to his dorm when his attention was pulled to a large and red for letter word painted on the wall. Underneath it was a small metal slide. The word read: MAIL. 'Isn't that just convenient? Okay, I gotta go get some stuff from the commissary…'

While he stood in the long and growing line for the commissary, TJ thought about the letter he held in his hand. It was nice to know that SOMEONE in this world took time out of their day to come down here to visit, get told they couldn't visit, and then write a letter to replace the face-to face visit. It really was. It was even nicer that that same person thought so highly of them that they would quit-no, RETIRE, over a verdict in his case when the evidence pointed only to him. He was really grateful for that. People like that in your life are few and far between. Hell, some people don't meet other like that in their entire life time. Still, there was one daunting fact on his mind.

Where was the letter from his parents?

They said they would visit again soon, but it's been a good week since they first came. Even though he criticized their actions that didn't relinquish them of their duties. Yeah he talked bad about them to their face and when they're not around, but he was criticizing their techniques in controlling him. He was just that kind of person; one who criticize those in charge in such a way it would make them one to give up, when it's really just a push for them to do better. TJ thought that if his principal was able to get over it when he did that to him, then his parents should get over it, and fast; they still have five more years to go with him.

'I swear, Prickly's doing a better job at raising me then my own parents….' He thought to himself. Thinking about his parents at home had gotten him to think about the others; specifically, his old friends. What were they up to? The school year would be over in a few months, them they would be headed to high school to start their freshman year. What would that be like? Being on the bottom of the social food chain again? They would be okay since they have each other. But that didn't mean he wasn't curious. He wanted to know what they thought of him being here. TJ was sure that I mostly consisted of bad opinions, but he truly did want to know. And after spending time alone with Alex, he wanted to say he was sorry and for them to….well, forgive him, though that the chances of them doing that were slim to none. Still, he wouldn't know unless he tried. After purchasing five envelops, a roll of stamps, a few pens and paper, some candy, and soda that were on stock (he didn't need to lose another eye to Tommy Gun) he sat at a free table in the corner and started to think about what he wanted to say.

TJ didn't want to ask for their friendship back; that idea was dead on arrival. But if wasn't going to ask that, then what WAS he going to say? _Hi, life sucks in juvie, what's it like in normal world? _They would throw it away when they saw his name on it too, and he didn't want to waste envelopes and stamps on something that would be promptly thrown in the trash. Even with that possibility he wouldn't know unless he tried, he was certain of that. But what would he even say to them?

He wasn't going to ask to be their friend again, that's for damn sure. After they shared their opinions about who they thought started the fire the chance for their friendship ever being restored was shot, brought back to life, and shot again just for the fun of pondering the thought. It's not like wanted to be friends with them again anyways. If they were willing to testify against him in court and get him sent to juvie, they were on his list of people to get rid of and destroy in every possible way. Not that he _was_ goingto get rid of and destroy one day…

But forgiveness was another story. The only good thing to come out of Alex visiting him was that he now understood the severity of his actions since half way throughout fifth grade and how it affected those around him. He was shocked by the techniques he used and what it did to everyone. Simply put, he was sorry—something he hadn't felt for a while and he wanted to do away with. And the only way to have that burdened lifted of his shoulders was to ask them to forgive him for what he did (not the fire, he insisted he was in juvie on false charges and a shitty lawyer). Sharping the pencil he was in the handheld sharpener he cracked his knuckles and began to write on the piece of paper in front of him.

_Dear_

Erasing the first word he written down, TJ scolded himself. '_Dear'_ was used for people how cared about. He didn't care about those guys, just wanted their forgiveness, if that made any sense at all (and he sure it didn't to anyone else but him). Bring the tip of the pencil to the paper he started over.

_Hey Guys,_

_Look, I know I did a lot of bad things since halfway throughout fifth grade like poison the whole school with laxatives, took apart Old Rusty, bombed the playground with itching and sneezing powder, broke into you rooms and break everything my an aluminum baseball bat, took all your most prized things and broke them then left the remains on the playground, slowly broke Galileo in front of Gretchen, melted Vince's favorite trophy to make a gold replica of my hat, burned Mikey's journal of poems to melt marshmallows for my s'mores, busted Gus's favorite airplane after stealing it and throwing it into traffic 'cause he wouldn't let me play with it, showed the entire playground those pink frilly panties Spinelli wears 'cause I thought she needed to be reminded that she's a girl, gave everyone pinkeye, chickenpox, broke the arm of that one kid, busted the jaw of another, hung that little girl over the school, killed the Third Graders class pet, gave everyone the measles, and took the kindergartners and gave it to everyone else making them go on vicious rampage for two weeks, then giving them a shitload of candy making them go on a sugar rush that lasted a month._

_I know I did all those things and I know they were bad now. I understand that I made your lives unbearable with everything that I did and I wrote this to say that I'm sorry and to ask you all to forgive me for what I did. _

_I'm not asking you to take me back or anything like that. I'm just asking you to forgive me for what I did. Hope you write back._

_-TJ_

"I sound like such a loser in this letter," TJ said as he put the address to Spinelli's house on the envelope. It was addressed to 'My former friends, so that when it was seen, she would know immediately who t was from and decide whether or not it was even worth reading. After he placed a stamp in the corner he dropped it into the chute and sat back down to work on his second letter to Principal Prickly, but since he used most of his brain power to write the last one, he decided to write it later. Standing up he was headed to his room when the sight of another inmate who appeared to be talking to himself caught his eye. Looking closer he could see that the inmate was not talking to himself, but was on a payphone that he failed to notice before.

'I really need to look around this place for stuff I haven't seen yet,' He thought to himself. When the other inmate got off the phone, TJ contemplated making a call himself. Did it cost anything to use? Probably. And the now, $87.34 on his card was precious to him, so he wanted to make sure the call was worth it. If he did decide to make a call, who would it be too? It wouldn't be his friends; he already mailed a letter and didn't want to be bothered with that much more. Maybe his parents? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

The phone had a sign that read 25 cents per call along with a machine where the card that the inmates have to hold their money was swiped. A few seconds later he held the phone in his hands and was dialing the number to his house. He patiently waited for the other end to pick up as the phone rang. It rung once, then twice, three times, and a fourth time before it was directed to the answering machine. Sighing, he swiped his card again, wanting to give it another try. Again the phone rang fourth times before the answering machine came on. He hung up, not wanting to spend any more time on the endeavor to get his parents to talk to him.

'Maybe they're both a work,' He wondered. He looked the nearby clock that hung on the wall and saw that it was the usual time for them to both be at home. Unless something had happened they should've picked up the phone. 'Either that or they saw the number and didn't pick up.' He thought. With a sigh he turned away from the pay phone and headed up the stairs to his room. If they weren't going to pick up, there was no reason for him to try calling.

Entering his room he saw JoJo sitting on his top bunk. Instead of finding him reading a book with a title he couldn't pronounce, JoJo held a small pipe with a rounded tip at the end that wasn't touching his lips while holding a lighter with a flame underneath. Every few seconds he would take a deep breath and release the fumes from his lungs only to start the process all over again.

"What are you doing?" TJ asked his roommate.

"Gettin' high as a motha fucka," JoJo told him, keeping his attention on the pipe. "You wanna hit this?" Thinking about his past with drinking alcohol and smoking, TJ thought about saying no. It seemed to be the smarter of the two options what with being in juvie and all. Why would he risk getting caught and getting in trouble? Then again he was here until he turned eighteen; might as well enjoy it.

"How do you do it?" Asked TJ.

"Just hold the pip in your mouth and put the light underneath," JoJo instructed. "And breathe. BBRREEEAATTTHHEEEEE." After handing him the pipe and lighter JoJo laid back down and stared at the ceiling. TJ sat on his own bed and followed the instructions JoJo had given him. The first breath he took burned his throat as he was sent into a fit of coughing. After a few minute when he finally was able to stop coughing he dared to take another breath, much easier than the last. A few breaths later and he was lying on his back as well, watching the flood of color mix right before his eyes. At some point JoJo had reached down a took his pipe and lighter back, but TJ was to engulfed to notice. He could've sworn he was flying as fast as a jet across a sky that didn't look too good being the color purple. That flight didn't last long as he felt himself falling through the sky and landing firmly on his bed, blacking out.

**~*~DREAM SEQUENCE~*~**

"There was a bunch of color a second ago. What happened?" TJ asked himself as he walked around a void of whiteness. He missed the vivid colors he was seeing in front of him a while ago; some of those colors he hadn't ever seen before. But he was here now, and he was sure he was dreaming. Hearing what sounded like laughter in the distance, he quickened his pace to find the source. All he found was a window. It was clear enough for him to look through a see what was on the side. What he saw was the playground at Third Street three years ago. Looking closer he could see himself, abet ten years old, as well as his now former friends playing a game. He smiles at the scene in front of him, not from reminiscing, but for missing being able to do what he wanted when he wanted to do it. Just as he was about to walk away from the window, TJ spotted his younger self approaching the window, and because his dream didn't appear as if it was going to end anytime soon, opened the window.

"Is this it?" His younger self ask him. "Is this what I turn into when I get older?"

"Pretty much," He said to his younger self.

"…..I don't like it," Said his younger self.

"Me neither, kid."

"Why did this happen?"

"I dunno," He said. "It just did."

Before the conversation could go any further the window disappeared, and TJ was left by himself again. He laid on his back and closed his eyes, waiting for himself to wake up.

**~*~END DREAM SEQUENCE~*~**

Jolting up in bed in a cold sweat, TJ panted for his breath while trying to slow his racing pulse. Quickly looking around he saw that it was well into the night, and that he must've been asleep for at least five hours. Once he was calmed down his thoughts drifted back to the dream he had.

Did he miss being ten years old and hanging around his former friends? Sometimes. But he questioned whether or not it was because he missed his friends or the freedom he had. If he wasn't here in juvie would he even be questioning whether he missed them at all? Probably not. But what did that _really _mean? He thought that maybe it meant he was just selfish for asking his former friends to forgive him and that he wasn't truly sorry, just wanted the burden off of his shoulders so he could start doing what he did to make them hate him in the first place and if that was true, then he was more messed up than he thought.

Feeling a headache that resembled a punch to the head, he slowly laid back down in his uncomfortable bed and closed his eyes, promising to deal with the dilemma tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Don't you people DARE feel bad for him yet. I'm not done with him! You can feel bad in like, two chapters. I feel like this chapter is somewhat uneventful. <strong>

**I also need to clarify a question I asked earlier. Two chapters ago I asked who do you guys think would visit him in juvie. That was kind of a vague question. What I meant to ask was, if anyone in the gang, for any reason, would visit him, ever, who would it most likely be? That, and how do you guys think they would react to the letter he's sending them?**

**RandallXSpinelli: he-he, Trust me, he's not the anti-Christ, Alex just happens to look like the devil. :) For the live-action movie, they would have to go EXACTLY how they had it in the cartoon. EXACTLY. Even with all the jokes and everything. And that's where I think it would fail. They would try to 'modernize' it like they always do. I think if they stuck to the originality of the show it could be good. But I'm not going to lie, if I heard tomorrow that they were going to make a live-action Recess, or if I went to the movies and saw a trailer for it, I'd shit my pants ;) I would just be so happy 'cause I love the show so much. Then five days later I'd be like 'It's going to suck..' But I would still go see it. A big bonus of a live-action Recess would be that Disney would start airing marathons of the cartoon again as part of the advertising. **

**Donna Nnov: Ah, Alex. I can't tell you he is…yet. ;) Mr. Simmons will in the next chapter which will be up soon since it's the weekend. **

**MaxGoof1996: Don't give him that hug yet! D: Not yet! It'll be too soon….**

**Reviews are Appreciated!**


	20. Suicidal September

**Did you all like the last chapter? I didn't. Too uneventful for my taste, but I made up for it in this chapter and the next one.**

**Ah, this is the last chapter until he turns fourteen. So next chapter we'll skip ahead a few months next chapter. I've been looking forward to that chapter too, but for the moment let's focus on this one.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"Okay, TJ, how about we talk about…..<em>Alex.<em>"

A few days passed without any contact from anyone from the outside, and it left TJ utterly bored with his surroundings. The gray walls of the inside of the building and the barren landscape of the 'playground' outside didn't help at all with his gloomy disposition. With the massive amount of time he had after doing his homework, eating, bathing, and walking back and forth from doing those things he was desperate for something to occupy his time with. But there was nothing to do except people watch or suffer the verbal onslaught brought on by Alex. Lately Alex just stood there just in the corner of his eye with an all-knowing smirk on his face. It annoyed TJ so much that he almost preferred it when Alex talked; at least then he knew what was going on inside the demon-boy's head.

"What about him?" TJ asked Mr. Simmons as he rolled a pebble back and forth between his hands on the table. Without having any visitors for a while, TJ looked forward to leaving his usual surroundings when he was taken to a room to talk to Mr. Simmons. It would've been even better if it wasn't court order. "What do you want to know?"

"Is he still bothering you?" Mr. Simmons asked.

"No he not _bothering_ me," TJ calmly said. "The little asshole is pissing me off! He won't leave me alone!" Since the mentioning of 'Alex' in their last session, Mr. Simmons decided to make that the focus of their next meeting. He had plenty of clients in his career, and a considerable amount of those who said that someone was talking to them made the difference between diagnoses.

"Does he say anything to you?" Mr. Simmons asked him.

"He tells me I'm a piece of shit," Said TJ. "That I'm basically a terrible excuse of a human being, and that I should be here because I'm a threat to the human race. Pretty much called me every name in the book.

"Do you think you can draw a picture of him for me?" Asked Mr. Simmons as he held out a a box of crayons and a few pieces of paper. TJ nodded and started to draw a rough sketch of how he saw Alex. Meanwhile the two of them continued their conversation. "When did Alex start appearing?"

"When did he start appearing?" TJ repeated as he switched crayons. "He came around sixth grade. He started talking to me last year, but he only said a few words. Now he just wants to talk to me every day and try to make me feel worthless."

"Is that how you feel when he talks to you?" The therapist asked.

"…..maybe a little bit," Said TJ. "Maybe. But…..it makes me really tired Mr. Simmons; I want to go to sleep. Here, I'm done drawing." He passed the paper over to Mr. Simmons who began to look at the picture. It was of a boy, perhaps not even older than ten with jet black hair that was combed back, piercing red eyes (or maybe it was because they were red that caused them to be piercing. Red eyes were not natural, after all), horns that twisted to the sides of his head, two pointed tails, fangs, claws, and wearing a simple black suit.

"Hmm, so this is Alex," Mr. Simmons mumbled. "What exactly does Alex say?"

"He says I'm broken and calls me a defect. And that I make everyone around me miserable," TJ said as he kept count on his fingers.

"Did you feel that way before?"

"Not until he started say it." Mr. Simmons nodded as he wrote down a few notes. He had a theory about what was going on, but needed more information to make a conclusion. He just received that information. "It makes me feel bad, Mr. Simmons. I did all those thing to everyone. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Do you think it makes you bad person?" Asked Mr. Simmons.

"I think so," TJ told him. "I really want to go to sleep. That way Alex will leave me alone."

"TJ, I really really want you to listen to me," Said Mr. Simmons. "Okay? Pay attention. Alex isn't real; he's all in your head. He's just a manifestation of all the guilt you've been holding back, okay? Your mind is trying to let out all the guilt that's been building up since you started acting out."

"Are you calling me crazy?" TJ snapped, feeling offended by Mr. Simmons comment.

"No, that not what I'm staying at all. What I'm saying is that there's an actual reason for him being there that's not in your control. It's not your fault. Alex just….represents your guilt. And now that your accepting what you did and feeling guilty about it, he should go away soon."

"I've been accepting it or weeks now, Mr. Simmons," Said TJ. "He's still as strong as he ever been."

"Just give him time, he'll go away."

**~*~U~*~**

"Just give him time? How much time am I supposed to give him?"

Walking back to his room, TJ thought about what Mr. Simmons had told him. It made a little bit of sense; Alex only made him feel guilty for everything he possibly could. And he was good at it. But when was he going to stop? It was annoy to have to listen to him day in and day out for how long? Two weeks? Three? It's time for Alex to stop. Stepping into his room he found JoJo going through his separate cabinet before closing it. Because the two of them seldom talk, TJ passed him without saying a word and sat on his bed.

"What's yo' issue, Freckles?" JoJo asked passing him.

"What?"

"Why you keep sittin' around mopin' all the time?" Ask JoJo. "ya makin' me depressed Freckles."

"I'm not moping around," TJ told him. "I'm just bored. There's nothing to do around here!"

_"You're only bored because there's no one who you can mess with anymore."_

"I hope you don't expect someone to _find _somethin' for you to do," JoJo said to him. "Ain't no one gonna give you somethin' to do. Go handle your own shit."

"Gee, thanks," TJ said. He laid down in be and closed his eye to sleep; it was the only way he knew how to pass the time. Sleeping became his only way of getting away from his current situation. At least in his dreams he could do whatever he want, when he wanted and he wasn't confined to a dark and dreary building. He wanted to be able to sleep all the time, but that wasn't possible. He would either get woken up by his growling stomach, a whistle getting blown by the guards, or he would just get so much sleep that he couldn't sleep anymore.

"C'mon," JoJo said as he left the room. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Don't question me," JoJo yelled back from outside the room. "C'mon lil cracker! I ain't waitin' for you!" Mumbling under his breath about not ever being able to do what he wanted, TJ forced himself out of bed and followed his roommate into the open area. They passed by other inmates who entertained themselves by what appeared to be gambling, bartering, playing cards, or fighting over the TV remote. TJ followed JoJo to a table in the corner where three other kids were sitting, minding their own business.

'Must be his friends,' TJ thought, keeping him mouth shut. He stayed quiet until JoJo addressed him after saying hi to the boys sitting at the table.

"Freckles," JoJo started. "Dis is Specs." He paused and pointed to the 12 year-old boy sitting with a rather large amount of solved Rubik's cubes around him in various sizes along with an unsolved 21X21X21 cube in his hands. Along with the standard issue uniform he had on a pair of goggles over his eyes and short spikey red hair sticking out in all directions. "Dats Box." JoJo pointed to the 14 year-old Hispanic boy shuffling cards in his hands with a lit cigarette between his lips. With the top of his uniform down and the white shirt underneath exposed he kept his wavy black hair short and out of his face. "And dat over there, dats Bandit." He pointed to a 13 year-old Asian boy with a pair of headphones playing music on his ears and rocking his head back and forth. "Specs, Boxs, Bandit. Dis is Freckles. Freckles, look alive and say hi."

"Um, hi?" TJ said to the three sitting at the table. They looked up for a second and gave a quick wave before going back to what they were doing.

"Sit down, Freckles," JoJo told him as he sat at the table. "Box what's up with da cards? You gonna rub the numbahs off and we can't play, damn."

"Don't rush me," Said Box. "I gotta method. We don't have anywhere you go to."

"You know how to play blackjack, Freckles?"

"….um, no," Said TJ. "Never played it."

"Then I suggest you learn," JoJo said, picking up the cards that were dealt to him and the others. "Just playin'. See what you gotta do is make your card equal 21 or less. You get more, you lose. If you win, congradu-fuckin'-lations. If you lose, you just lose. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Good. Now pick up ya cards before I take 'em."

The five of them played blackjack for the next few hours without interruptions. TJ lost each and every one of those games, but he blamed it on his inexperience in playing it. But he did last a little longer in each game. Even though he did get to sleep like he originally wanted to do, he had to admit that it was the most fun he had while he arrived. It wasn't as much fun as he had before he came, but it kept his mind occupied and that meant something to him. For the last few weeks TJ was experiencing what he could only describe as a mixture between stress and claustrophobia, and this offered another relief besides sleep. But he still wanted to sleep. There was something _different_ about sleeping. He didn't worry about being in juvie while he was sleeping, or what he did to everyone back at Third Street. On top of that, it was like Alex didn't exist to torture him. Sleep was pure paradise like no other, and it was his most prized possession.

Their game was interrupted when Specs brought to their attention the flood of guards and a few nurses rushed passed them and into a room about twenty feet away. He looked over out of interest to try and see what was going on, but couldn't. Some of the guards left the room as a stretcher and two EMT's came in.

"Looks like it's that time of the year," Specs said, voice breaking as a side effect of puberty. "You think this one's gonna make it?"

"Do they ever make it?" Bandit sarcastically asked.

"What happened?" TJ asked, looking at the commotion and not paying attention to the game.

"Suicidal September," JoJo said as he placed his cards down on the table, winning the game. "Every year people decide to tell God that he can't fire them 'cause they quit. Came early dis year."

"But it's not September…"

"It sounds betta," JoJo mumbled. "Betta than Suicidal April. How many you sucka's want bet decide to take the rope this season? I got 50."

"20," Box said after putting out his cigarette in the nearby ashtray.

"I hear the blade his popular this time," Specs said. "Easier to hide. I say 30. Maybe 35 to make up for last year being so slow."

"I say 10," Bandit said. "Just 'cause I bet so high last year and lost."

"You bettin' this time Freckles?" JoJo asked.

"…um….no," TJ said, watching the EMT's bring the stretcher back out with a white bag holding a body out of the room and out of the dorms. "I think I'll wait until next time."

"A'ight then," Said JoJo. "Box, deal the cards." As the game continued on, TJ couldn't help but think about the kid who was carried out on the stretcher in a body bag. From what he gathered in the words that were exchanged between the boys at the table, that inmate killed himself, and he was far from the first suicide to happen there. It happened on a regular basis, it even had its own season every year, and this signaled the beginning of this year's season. Just when things couldn't possibly get any worse…..

Still, he couldn't help but think those kids were lucky in some sort of twisted way. They got to leave and get away from this place forever. They never had to deal with their problems anymore. No more torment, no more lack of visitors, no more stress from what they did to get themselves there, and no more day to day grief. They got away and out of the gray walls of the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center and never had to worry about coming back ever again. Most importantly, they got to sleep; something he badly wanted.

'Lucky bastard,' TJ thought.

"Is Tommy Gun still in the white room?" Bandit asked. "I took the last soda and he wasn't there to bitch about it…"

"Yeah he's still the white rooms," Said Specs. "He's in for two more months. Kinda nice."

"I dunno about all that," Said JoJo. "But I do know that I just won. We needa start gamblin'. You a'ight, Freckles? Kinda quiet over there."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." TJ said, pushing the sight of the stretcher carrying the body into the back of his mind. "I'm….okay."

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><p><strong>I feel bad when I make OC's because I feel like they're taking over the story….<strong>

**In other news, have any of you noticed that Hey Arnold and Recess are a lot alike? Like, A LOT? I would go into more detail, but I'm saving that for tumblr. ;) But seriously, it's scary.**

**RandallXSpinelli: We'll get to see if they accept his apology next chapter, as well as plenty of other things. I can't wait! I'm going to try and get my work done faster than usual to get more time to work on it. I'll TRY to have it up by…Wednesday, but since I'm sure it'll be the biggest chapter I've written for this story it might still be until next weekend. **

**Please Review!**


	21. We R Who We R

**Oh folks, are you in a good mood? Are you feeling so sun shining happy? Well then I suggest you don't read this chapter; it's kind of depressing…**

**I had to draft, re-draft, re-draft again to create this chapter because I wanted it to be just perfect. I hope it is. It was worth it though. Just look at the massive size of this bitch. Ugh. I'm never doing a chapter this big EVER again. Maybe a one-shot but that's different.**

**This chapter gets a little confusing as time goes. I tried to keep it was simple as possible. This chapter takes place three months after the last chapter, and TJ's now 14 years old, but that'll be explained in the chapter.**

**Go Forth….and Read On!**

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><p><em><strong>THREE MONTHS LATER<strong>_

**~*~D~*~**

_Journal,_

_I didn't mean to…I swear to God. I didn't mean to. It was an accident….but there was so much blood everywhere. On me…it was everywhere…_

**~*~D~*~**

The visitor's room was loud with silence. The large and thick rain pounding on the building from outside only added to the dreary and depression atmosphere of the room. The gray paint and flickering lights didn't help any, just made it worse. Every few second a drip from the water seeping through the cracked ceiling and landing in a conveniently placed bucket, preventing a puddle from forming on the floor. While all those around him talked to those that were visiting him, TJ struggled to think of something to say. When was the last time someone had visited him? A month? That was the longest, most grueling month of his life.

He hadn't heard a word from his parents since their first visit, even when he tried to call them. They never picked up, but with recent events he didn't expect them to. He was sure his friends had ripped his letters to shreds, refusing to acknowledge his existence. Again, he didn't blame them; he was sure if he was in their shoes, he would do the same. The only person from the outside he did have contact with was his principal. TJ thought the man must be crazy to still talk to him after what was in the news. But he was here visiting him, just like he promised, and he was thankful for that.

Words weren't exchanged between the two of them when he was brought in and Principal Prickly understood why. Words didn't need to be said for that. He knew he would just have to wait for his former student to talk on his own; sorting through all of his thoughts took time and that was all he could give.

TJ sighed, wanting to say something, but not knowing what. He wanted to talk as much as he could. Talking meant he didn't have to think, and not having to think meant he didn't have to listen to Alex. Mr. Simmons said Alex would go away, but he only had gotten stronger. Taking a deep breath, he spoke up for the first time. Visiting time only lasted for an hour, and he already wasted twenty minutes.

"I killed him."

**~*~FLASHBACK: TWO MONTHS AGO~*~**

A new, but strange normal settled into TJ's life. He didn't sleep as much as he would've liked any more, but he had friends, or the closest thing to it. Every day was the same; breakfast, school, lunch and cards, time outside, school, dinner, time outside, cards, a bath, then sleep. He got to sleep up to ten hours each night during the week, but he still felt as if that wasn't enough. He wanted to sleep all the time if that was possible without risking starvation, but he had to socialize.

He got to know the boys JoJo introduced him too, but he didn't want to get too close. Any day they could decide to 'quit' and kill themselves. He had enough pain of his own to deal with; he didn't need any more coming from friends dying.

Staying up and playing cards with the guys was the best part of his day until it was ruined by the happenings of Suicide September. It wasn't just a name or a joke shared among the inmates. He learned that it was legitimate about every other day or two.

Good God, how many ways could there possibly be to kill yourself? He heard of a few, but the kids here were creative. They did it ways he couldn't have thought of. But why couldn't they do it in their own rooms, away and out of sight from anyone else?

One kid jumped off the rail of the upper rooms with a noose around his neck. The guards ran up to get him before he jumped, but they didn't run fast enough. He jumped and fell ten feet before the rope snagged and snapped his neck, killing him instantly. Everyone saw it. It was so quiet when he jumped. It was almost as if you could actually _**hear**_his neck snap.

Another was more ambitious; he wanted to go out with style. TJ hadn't seen him before, but he looked like the oldest kid in there. He always minded his business, never said a word to anyone, never got in trouble. A guard passed him one day, and he jumped up and grabbed his gun out of the holster. Everyone watched, thinking that he was going to start shooting the guard and forgetting that it was Suicidal September. The gun didn't point at the tan shirt of the guard, but at the head of the boy. With one loud resounding BANG the gun was fired, and bullet went through his head and out the other end. Blood was splattered everywhere and the gray matter that was his brain oozed out of the hole from the bullet. He was dead before he hit the floor.

That wasn't the most creative way the inmates choose to tell God 'Fuck You.' There was a large rainstorm passing through and the roof was leaking, creating puddles on the floor. TJ thought that this inmate wanted to one-up the last one because this one grabbed the Taser gun from another guard instead of the normal gun. The Taser gun alone wasn't enough to do much past stunning someone for an instant. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that electricity and water do not mix. The inmate turned it on, and dropped it into the puddle he was standing it. He jolted and shook where he stood, electricity filling the air making the room thick with horror. Smoke came from under his clothes as the smell of burning flesh spread over the dorms. Once the battery died all that was left was burned and unrecognizable carcass.

What was wrong with just doing something simple? Whatever happened to the simple cutting of the neck or hanging from a ceiling fan by a rope? Or was it that the way they did it was the only way? It scared him. No, it horrified him to see kid after kid kill themselves day after day. It hurt to see, but it became easier to see as time passed. It became so frequent that he expected it to happen and he became numb to seeing people in front of him drop dead.

Then there was the freak accident.

Boredom overcame everyone one day, and though TJ couldn't see who started it, someone started to throw food during breakfast. It became a food fight within seconds. As punishment everyone had to clean up the dorms on an empty stomach. Not only that, but they were forced to work outside in the blazing sun breaking rocks with pickaxes next to the road without any water for three hours. Kids were dropping like flies from thirst. They were allowed a ten minute break every hour, but that didn't help much. One kid who was just a few feet away from him dropped his pickaxe in the road and sat down to take his break. TJ was going to take his break too, but he chose against it and was now glad he did. A car drove by and ran over the pickaxe at just the right angle to send it up in the air and flying. And it flew. It flew across the road and through that kid's neck taking his head off with it. His severed head rolled right in front of TJ's feet. But could you really call that a suicide? It was an accident, but it still left him disturbed. No; disturbed was too gentle of a word to describe it.

What really pushed him over the edge happened the next day. They were, again, breaking rocks just as they do in the movies. One kid who did talk to anyone and minded his own business decided to make a run for it. He ran far and faster than the guards could keep up. Everyone was cheering for him, hoping that he would make it past the fence and into freedom. Then the guard blew his whistle and the dogs were let out. It wasn't enough to simply _stop_ the escapee. Those dogs were vicious. They latched onto his arms, legs and torso and ripped him to shreds. That…that was just _**cruel**_.

He stopped talking after the one kid was beheaded in front of him. Not because someone made him stop, but because he couldn't find the right words for anything after seeing that. He still answered questions that were asked of him in class and by those around him, but the answers were usually a 'yes' or a 'no.' There was no reason to talk anyways; no one was there to listen, so he might as well save his energy for something else. TJ figured that he should get used to seeing death, too. He was here until he turned 18; that's another five year seasons of Suicide September. Plenty of people were going to kill themselves between now and then, and being sensitive to it wasn't going to help him get through it.

But what does it feel like? He asked himself that question each time someone body was carried off in a white bag. They got to leave this hell hole. They got to have all the stress and guilt and pain of everyday life lifted off of their shoulders. They didn't have to feel like shit anymore, or deal with having no visitors. And they got to sleep forever. That's what TJ bet it felt like, falling asleep. He looked one inmate in the eyes just before what he did took over and took his life. He looked like he was falling asleep. A peaceful sleep too. He could go for one of those.

Picking up the cards that he was dealt, TJ looked them over. A bad hand; how ironic? Just like everything else.

'Okay, I gotta get some more cards and lose some of these..' TJ thought. 'Okay…let's see…'

"Freckles, you got the worse poka face," JoJo teased. "I'ma 'bout to kick all y'alls asses."

"I ain't losing again," Said Bandit. "That's bullshit. I think JoJo's cheating!"

"Ain't nobody cheatin'. Stop hatin'." JoJo said. "What you NEED to be worryin' about is Freckles. He hasn't been sayin' anything for a while. Bet he's got somethin' going on."

There wasn't much going on in his head except playing the game with the cards that was dealt to him.

There were times that he thought back to when he sent the letter to his former friends. They still hadn't mailed back. He wanted to hope that they were thinking of something to say, or that the letter had somehow gotten lost in the mail. Anything that would excuse them for not replying back other than them refusing to do so. He wanted to believe that, but knew it wouldn't be the truth. The chance of ever hearing from those guys were long gone. When he was scheduled to be released, they would likely be off at college. If not, once the word gets out about him being back in town, everyone would run for the hills like death was after them.

TJ wondered how he was going to keep himself occupied until then. Cards were fun and all, but it'll only keep his mind busy for a while. After that, then what? It's not like there was a lot to do around here besides exist. He thought about how the guys in front of him made it as long as they did. JoJo was here since he was ten years old; he must've done something to keep himself from going stir crazy for the last three years. Or was he just used to it all? The tedious tasks, doing the same thing each and every single week for years without question…..they're just begging for everyone to go crazy in here…

For now TJ was thankful that he wasn't in those white rooms anymore. Any longer in there and he would've gone buck-fucking-crazy like in the movies. At least in the dorms your around people, just not by yourself for 23 hours a day. Being alone with your thoughts for too long can be a dangerous thing. He learned that from being alone with Alex.

Ah, yes. Alex. That little ass-munch is _**still**_ there. Just staring with that damn smile on his face annoying the shit out of him. TJ didn't care what Mr. Simmons said about Alex. The little fucker is still here and wasn't going away anytime soon. He just wanted to take a knife to the bastard's chest and inflict death upon the demon-boy. But in all seriousness, can no one else _**REALLY**_ see him? REALLY? Was this one of those things that you can only see if you believe it's there?

'Or am I just fucking crazy?' TJ asked himself. 'Probably.'

Probably was the answer to most of the questions he had lastly. Were his parents never coming to visit him again? Probably. Was he going to see enough suicides to write a Stephen King novel? Probably? Was Alex going to keep being a little cocksucker? Probably. Was he going to have a bad day and accidently drop the soap? Most likely. Was he going to try to kill himself? Probably. The option definitely was still on the table. This place was depressing, so who wouldn't think of that as an option for an easy escape? It was viable, and only took some thinking. But he wasn't going to let everyone else win. At least for now. Until then, he wanted to focus on this game.

"Freckles ain't got shit," JoJo hissed. "Ain't got shit, ain't got shit. You ain't got shit Freckles! I'ma 'bout to kick your cracker ass! Just watch…"

"Looks like they're sending everyone in the white rooms to the new building," Specs said pointing to the guards who were leading a line on inmates from the white rooms outside. "They're done building it early."

"Good. They're right under my room," Said Box. "Now I can get some sleep for once…."

"A new building?" TJ asked, speaking for the first time in weeks. "For what?"

"For all the crazies, duh," Said JoJo. "Oh, right you weren't here. Ok, listen. Are you listenin'? All those crazy motha fuckas are getting their own building to stay in. It's bigger than the twenty rooms they got in 'ere. Away from us too. They gonna use those rooms 'ere for solitary confinement for the extra dangerous inmates now. 'bout time. BAM!" He said setting down his cards. "I just won!"

"DETWEILER!" One of the guards called. Looking over his shoulder TJ saw that he was being waved to come over. He put his cards down and walked over. Without an explanation as to why, he was handcuffed and put into line with the others heading to the new building. Sighing, he knew what this meant; another round of alone time. How long was it going to be this time around? A week? A month? More? He wondered if kids in the white rooms committed suicide as well. It seemed like they would; they had to be crazy to get in the white rooms in the first place.

The new building was a five minute walk away from the other buildings. The halls smelled of the chemicals that was used to clean it just hours before it was finished. It was two stories tall. He presumed one floor was for the girls and the others for the boys. Looking ahead and behind him he saw that there were at least thirty other kids with him, all carrying the tired and worn out look across their faces in the form of bags under their eyes and a blank emotionless stare into oblivion. The guards led them to the second floor rooms, putting one inmate in each room.

"NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK IN THERE!" TJ looked ahead an saw the next inmate in line refusing to go into his room. He pulled against the two guards that were trying to get him to go into his room, but the boy wasn't giving up anytime soon. With a few twists of his arm he was free and bolted towards the stairs to try and escape. The guards blew a whistle and in seconds two men in white came out of nowhere and tackled the boy, sticking a syringe in his arm and injecting a tranquiller. After he stopped struggling to get free the men in white put him into a straitjacket and tossed him into his room. They didn't leave after that was done. Instead, they followed the guards as they gave each inmate their room.

Before he could react in any way, TJ had his own handcuffs taken off and put into his own room, just as white as the last. Or maybe even whiter; it definitely was brighter, and the cushions on the floor and walls were fluffier. A low buzzing sound came from the single light in the ceiling. But the doors were different. These doors were made out of glass.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" TJ asked himself. "What am saying? If its glass then I can break it and get out…" Tapping it, he tried to get an idea of how thick it was, but found something that would shatter his plan to break it. "Acrylic. Perfect….I can't break acrylic glass…."

Sitting down on the plush floor, TJ sighed and gave up on that idea. Even if it was regular glass, he wouldn't have been strong enough to break it. Looking through the door he could see the inmate across from him who was the one who tried to escape. He must have had experience in doing so, because in mere seconds he was able to get out of the straitjacket he was put in. TJ watched as he walked to his door and started to bang on it with both fists. The door didn't budge at all. The rooms weren't completely silent; TJ could hear some of the things going on in the rooms beside him as well at the BOOMs coming from the room in front of him. The sounds of yells and screams begging to be let out of his fellow inmates filled his ears as he laid down on the soft floor.

He had never felt so small.

_**~*~U~*~**_

Jumping up and out of his sleep from the loud knock on his door, TJ looked to see who it was who woke him; the guards, as usual. He made is way over on shaky footing and waited for the door to be unlocked so he could get in line with the other inmates. He wondered what they would be doing this time: eating or bathing? Everything was sporadic and nothing was constant. There wasn't a schedule like in the regular dorms, so he couldn't guess what you would be doing the next time the guards came to get him. At first he tried to find the daily routine. He expected it to be the same as before; get taken out three times a day to eat and once to take a bath. Now it was more like the guards only took them out when they _felt_ like taking them out. That meant the inmates would go days with only one meal and even skip days for baths. Hell, there were times where they wouldn't let them do either for days on end. It didn't help at all that the blaring lights where constantly on preventing any form of adequate sleep. The most sleep TJ received in one sitting was for an hour. After an hour he was up for at least five more, so he was constantly tired and drowsy making thinking clearly extremely energy consuming and tiring. He became confused and disoriented from the insomnia, spending days just staring at the white walls with a blank mind and only moving when he was lucky enough to have a guard come and get him to eat or bathe. Don't even bring up the issue of using the bathroom.

You had to be on the guard's good side when you asked them to do that, and no one knew what their 'good side' was. TJ thought that it meant being reduced to a incoherent, obedient, broken shell of your former self because those were the only kids who managed to get out before they soiled themselves. He seen it happen a few times to the kids he could see from his door; he could definitely smell it. Even then, the guards didn't have enough mercy to let them out and clean themselves up. As for himself, TJ learned how to fake being the kind of inmate the guards let out to use the bathroom. Fake it 'til you make it, right?

Whenever he did have enough strength to think and sit up on his own, TJ watched the inmate in front of him. That kid was always doing _something_ whether it be banging his fists on the walls or trying to rip and tear the plush material off of it. He was determined too, never missed a day of doing it. One day that kids noticed TJ looking at him. He didn't do anything at first, but after a couple days he sat down in front of his door and stared right back. He didn't look scared or like he was going to do anything; he just looked with confusion on his face.

They tried to communicate by tapping on the door, a sort of Morse code. When that didn't work out so well they blew steam onto the glass with their breath and wrote out messages. Doing that kept them occupied during the day (whenever the day was; none of them had seen the sun in God knows how long) and kept them from going crazy at least for a little while. TJ found out that the name of the kid across from him was Johnny and that he was 14 and been here since he was 9. TJ didn't want to know what I kid would do that would be so bad that they would be sent here at 9 years old, do he didn't ask. For the day, they mostly talked about random topics. Johnny was really interested about life outside of Duval and since TJ came there relatively recently he was able to tell him what it was like. When there wasn't much left to talk about they played games, mostly tic-tac-toe. It always ended in a tie.

TJ didn't think anything too exciting could happen while he was in the new white rooms. He'd seen a few kids get manhandled, Johnny included, but knew that if you stayed in line and didn't question anything the guards would _mostly _leave you alone in your room.

One day when the two boys were playing yet another game of tic-tac-toe, Johnny seemed distant; well, more distant than usual, so TJ asked him why. Johnny just shook his head and walked deeper into his room and didn't talk for the next few days. With his history of behavior, TJ was worried but there wasn't anything he could do from twenty feet and two doors away, so he waited for Johnny to come around on his own. He finally did a week later and when TJ asked him what was the matter Johnny sighed, blew hot air onto the glass door, and wrote out a simple three-word message.

_I Love You_

Taken back by the message, TJ didn't know what to think. Sure, the guy was cute, and from what they talked about he was sort of….quirky for lack of better words. Yes, he did like boys. He liked girls too, but leaned more towards his own gender. He discovered that about halfway through fifth grade, but didn't tell anyone. It was none of their business. But Johnny looked like a nice kid who just had enough of life here. TJ could see in his eyes that all he wanted was to be able to go outside and breath, see the sun, and to just _**live**_. But he was starved of that and was slowly wasting away. A tap on the opposite door brought him out of his thoughts, and he could see Johnny was waiting for him to answer back. But what could he say?

_**I Love You Too.**_

Despite their lack off contact or verbal communication, TJ could only pin one word to how he felt about him. If it wasn't love then he didn't know what it was. Even if it was a simple crush, or just juvenile puppy love, he wanted to hold on to that because Johnny was the close relationship he had with anyone in juvie. Smiling, Johnny replied by pressing his lips against the glass in a way to 'share' a kiss. TJ did the same thing and even though they were ten feet apart, the both of them hadn't felt that close to a person for too long of a time. Hearts were drawn on the glass as well as a dozen 'I love you's' between them, and it was as if they each found their own little slice of heaven in hell. That, like everything else, didn't last long and it was how TJ learned one of the hardest rules of juvie.

A while passed, and Johnny was becoming distant again. Like before TJ gave him space, hoping that he would come around and talk on his own. The time seemed to pass much slower when that happened, and TJ felt uneasiness in the air. When Johnny came around this time he had tear in his eyes, an wrote '_I love you'_ again. TJ replied with an _'I love you too,_' like many times before, but wanted to know why he was crying. Johnny only wrote _'It's not because of you, so don't feel guilty_.' TJ didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but had an idea and didn't want to risk that idea being right. Johnny stood up and walked to very back of his room. Frantically banging on the door, TJ tried to get him to come back and talk, but he didn't instead, Johnny mouthed the words 'I love you' with tears streaming down his face. Wiping the tears away he _mouthed 'I love you, TJ. Thank you for listening to me when no one else wouldn't.' _TJ watched as Johnny closed his eyes and ran head first into the glass door. He hit the door at an awkward angle, forcing his neck to bend and twist in a way that made it snap, killing him instantly. He fell to the floor, and didn't get back up. Horrified, TJ still banging on the door and begged for him to get up. Guards heard the noise and found the boy. He was soon taken away, leaving the room and TJ's heart empty. He cried tears of blood (from his left eye, a side effect of the scaring) for days on end after that and learned the hardest lesson to be learned about juvie.

Never get too close to anyone; it'll only break your heart.

He reminded everyday that he woke up and saw the empty room across to not get close to the people in there. They could do anything; backstab you, steal your stuff, or worse, they could make you fall in love with them. That wasn't a problem, because there wasn't anyone else to get close to while he was there. Hell, he didn't _want _to be close to anyone anymore, but that was mostly the guards fault.

After Johnny killed himself, TJ became a little jumpy and agitated as a result. He just missed their conversations and the time they spent together. It was weird, almost like withdrawal from a drug. Or maybe it was from having now physical contact with anyone for….how long was it at this point? Three weeks? Since he was jumpy and a somewhat scatterbrained, it was noticed by the guards who promptly took action. TJ wished he knew that it would happen if he didn't downplay his behavior, but he was to distracted with his own thoughts to realize.

One day he was standing in line, waiting like the others for the guards together up the rest of the inmates to eat or bathe. He was more jumpy that day than usual. One of the guards took notice, and waved for one of the men in white to come over. Too wrapped up in his own mind to notice, TJ almost jumped out his skin when they approached him with a needle. He tried to pull away from their grasp by kicking a screaming, but they pinned him to the floor and injected him with the needle. Right away he felt a wave of warmth shoot through his arm and then the rest of his body. The rooms started to spin, colors became dull, and the world was shrinking. He felt his arms being tied down by what he would later find out to be a straitjacket, and dragged back into his room, the loud slam of his door shutting echoing against the walls.

That was the norm.

Whenever the tranquilizer wore off and TJ was jumpy, and crying again, the men in white were ready with another needle to inject him with. He hated it. He was in a constant drug-induced stupor, making incoherent sentences and jumbled words, rambling on for hours, sometimes day about something he didn't understand himself. Whenever they came in again to give him more he tried to back away to avoid it, but he was always cornered with nowhere to run. Begging was useless. He even cried a few times because he didn't want it to happen. The men in white didn't care; they just gave him the tranquilizer, made sure the straitjacket was on properly, and left. If he was lucky, they would take the jacket off and let him stretch his arms. He could understand now why Johnny would kill himself after years of this. Being dead was better.

Occasionally they would run out of the tranquilizers and he was off of it for a while, and as a result he suffered withdrawal symptoms. A rapid heartbeat, racing thoughts to match, dizziness, and nausea became his new focus. When that happened, TJ and the other inmate who were drugged on a regular basis were taken to perform kitchen duty, preparing and cooking the food of the inmates and cleaning up after. Since of many of them were hungry, he had seen plenty of them dig through the scraps of what was left and eat what they could; he did it himself on occasion. A kid has to eat, doesn't he? Desperate times call for desperate measures. One of those times he was washing the dishes with five others after preparing to food. The boy next to him snuck a knife in his pocket. A few others did as well. TJ followed suit, and took a two inch knife and put it in his pocket. He wasn't going to use it, but knew it would come in handy if need be.

Fortunately for him, the times between injections increased and he was slowly weaned of the tranquilizer, minimalizing the withdrawal. It was the one thing TJ was thankful for while he was there. For a few days he wasn't given anything at all, and after that, a guard came for him and brought him back to the normal dorms. He winced his eyes during the five minute walk; he hadn't seen the sun in….how long he was in there. The guards didn't tell them what day it was, so he was unsure of exactly how long it's been.

Once he was inside the dorms, TJ looked around. He spent most of his time in a little room. Now he was back in a comparatively large space. It was…..nice. He headed up the stairs to his room, just to make sure it wasn't taken. Luckily it wasn't. JoJo was there, on the top bunk reading.

"It's about time you came back," JoJo said to him. "It's been six weeks."

"…..six weeks…?"TJ said, confused. "That long?...wait, what day is it?"

"…..the 16th."

"THE 16th?" He repeated. "Oh, man. My birthday was nine days ago…guess I'm fourteen now…."

"Happy birthday," said JoJo, less than enthusiastically. "C'mon, let's go play cards." Nodding, TJ followed JoJo out the room and to the table occupied by the other boys. With a sigh of relief, TJ sat down to enjoy something he was familiar with.

The day went by as it would if he wasn't in the white rooms. Playing cards with JoJo and his friends with the occasional joke to lighten the mood. It made a world of difference to TJ who was either drugged or staring at the wall for the last six weeks. Six whole weeks. Most of which were probably through tranquilizers. But it was over with now and he didn't have to think about it anymore.

Sitting down at the table after eating dinner, TJ wanted to lay his head down and go to sleep. The lighting there was much dimmer than the bright lights in the white rooms and it caused him to become sleepy. But he forced himself to stay awake and wait until lights out. But that didn't stop and yawn from escaping him.

"Tired, Freckles?" JoJO asked as he and the others approached.

"Mmm-hmm," TJ told him. "Really tired. But I'm not going to sleep yet…"

"Don't' go sleep yet, I need you guys to help me build something," Specs said, holding a four foot metal pipe in his hands. "See this? I'm making it into a pipe bomb."

"Isn't that why you were put here in the first place?" Asked Bandit.

"No. I'm here because I bought uranium from the Russians and sold half of it to some guys in Iran to pay for the other stuff I needed," Specs said. "It was for a good cause; those guys in Iran said they were revolutionaries…" As the others continued their conversations, TJ thoughts about how much he missed interacting between other people. Lack of any human contact could drive a person crazy he knew that from experience. He was grateful that he had someone to talk to in juvie now.

Right as he was about to jump in to the conversation, TJ felt someone pull him by the back of his jumpsuit and drag him across the floor. He tried to get up, but that was hard to do whilst being dragged. The others stopped talking and followed as well as the other inmates. Once he was stopped, TJ turned to see that the person who had dragged him was one of the guards and he was taken to the middle of the open area. Across from him, another guard had dragged another inmate. Suddenly, he realized what was happening. It was the same thing he saw when he first came here; the guards made the inmates fight for fast food.

'The food here might be disgusting, but I'm not fighting for fast food," TJ thought to himself. He was exhausted, mentality drained, and just wanted to do what he wanted to do. He didn't have it in him to fight, not like he wanted to or anything. It was just that after seeing id after kid kill themselves he didn't want to be exposed to any more violence. The guards told them both to fight, and to TJ's surprise, the other boy refused to fight as well. Both guards went up to their respective inmates and started to talk to them.

"Look kid, just beat that kid up over there and it'll be all over," Said the guard. "You'll even get some food from the outside for doing it."

"No," TJ said. "It isn't right. Don't you have anything better to do than watch us fight each other?"

"Listen you little bastard, I work 16 hour shifts here with you little shits. If I want to get entertained by a bunch of delinquents beating each other into the grave, I will," The guard told him. "Now either you fight, or I'll take you back to the white rooms." That sent a wave a panic through him. The white rooms?

No.

No.

NO!

Going back there was NOT an option! Images of everything he had seen in the white rooms flashed before his eyes; kids being tackled and beaten by the guards until they were bloody, Johnny killing himself, the screaming and the yells coming from the rooms around him, it was like he was there all over again and experienced it all again in three seconds. No, he couldn't go back there at any cost. So he did what he was told: fight. But he knew he wasn't that strong compared to most, so he had to have a weapon. Quickly looking around he spotted the metal pipe Specs had that he dropped when the commotion started. In pure fear and panic TJ grabbed that pipe off the floor and started to swing it, hitting the person he was told to fight. He closed his eyes as most would do in fear and just swung. He could feel it hitting something each time he swung it, but underestimated how hard it hit. He didn't know how much time had passed when the pipe was pulled out of his hands and he was pulled away. Out of the breath and gasping for air he opened his eyes and all he could see was blood.

Blood. It was everywhere. On the floor, on his jumpsuit, on the pillars, on the metal pipes, and on his hands. The metallic smell of it was inescapable as well as the site in from of him. The other boy that he was told to fight was laying on the floor, covered in his own blood and laying in a growing puddle of it. He wasn't moving an inch, and a large prominent crack on his skull was pouring out blood.

Shocked, TJ was unable to move. It all hit him at once. All the blood everywhere, the pipe on the floor at his feet, the blood on his clothes and his hands were because of _him_.

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

"The coroner said his brain was liquefied and his skull bashed in. His parents had to identify him by a birth mark on his ankle, the only part of his body that wasn't broken or mangled. His rib cage was completely shattered, both arms were broken, internal bleeding,…just about everything you can think of, I did it to him…he was only in for two weeks for shoplifting and now he's dead."

Taking a shaky breath, TJ waited for a response, if one would come at all. Everything went by so fast, it almost didn't feel real. It was bad enough he had to deal with have _killed_ a kid; he felt lower than dirt for that. He knew he didn't plenty of bad things but this, this wasn't ever considered to be a possibility. Never had it crossed his mind to end someone's life. And once the news got a hold of it, they had a field day. The story played on the news over and over again for weeks, making sure what he did was known by those who watched TV. Those who didn't watched TV learned from reading it in the newspaper, and those who didn't read the newspaper learnt it from word of mouth. There wasn't a soul who hadn't heard about what he did. The news had dubbed him Third Streets 'Little Monster' and people were outraged at what he did to that boy. Many were waiting for charges to be pressed against him, others were demanding that he never be released. A few wanted to build him his own prison. The saving grace was that because of a Law passed a few years back preventing kids in juvenile detention from being charged of the crimes they commit while they're in juvie he wasn't going to be charged with the murder. That only made people angrier.

"Why?" Asked Principal Prickly. He had seen the news as well as the security videos the news played of the incident. "Why did you do it?"

"I couldn't go back into those white rooms! It's torture in there! They pump you full of so many tranquilizers and drugs that you can't even think! All you do is lay on your back and drool and they keep giving you more and more and more and you can't do anything about it! Kids are killing _**themselves **_back there every day just to get out! The guards drag you out and beat you for fun and then they make you fight the other inmates and if you don't they'll take you back into the whites rooms so you black out and start beating the other kid up so much it kills them!"

"This place should've been locked down a long time ago," Said the principal. "It has a massive record with kids…."

"I look at the kids who kill themselves and I think they're so lucky because they don't have to deal with this anymore. How could anyone deal with all this?"

"You get those thoughts out of your head! I know it's hard to stop thnking about it when it's all around you, but you've got to stop thinking about suicide. It's not good for you."

"….I'm just so tired," TJ said as he folded his arms on the table and laid his head down. "I just want to go to sleep, sir….."

"Then you go back and go to sleep. God knows you need it…." The bell signaling the end of visitation rang, and the two of them said their good-byes. Principal Prickly promised he would visit again as soon as he could, which made TJ happy.

Reaching the dorms he looked around at the inmates, going on with their daily routine as if nothing happened. There was still a large blood stain on the floor where the incident occurred, and it didn't look like it was going to come up anytime soon. Looking away, TJ headed for the payphone and dialed his parent's number. It rang its usual four times before going to the answering machine. Knowing that it wouldn't be worth it to try and call again he put the phone down and headed to his room.

The room was empty and a single envelope lay on his bed. Reading the return address he saw that it was a reply to the letter he sent out three months ago. He was wary of opening it; what if it was just hate mail? Then again it could be something positive and he desperately needed something positive. He opening the envelope and pulled out the pages of notebook paper that was written on in different handwritings.

_TJ,_

_You know, we actually thought about your letter for a really long time. We argued among ourselves whether or not to forgive you for what you did. Mostly because he thought you went apeshit and lost your mind and now that you're with kids who make what you did here seem like nothing, you might've learned your lesson._

_We fought and argued with each other so much about this that we spent days without talking to each other over it._

_Then it hit us that he shouldn't be arguing and fighting and risking OUR friendship over YOU. Why should we? You did this to yourself, and now that you're being punished for it, you're playing the sympathy card. I bet you think it's real funny to try and control us from three hours away. But it's not going to work._

_And we saw what you did on TV. Everyone did. You killed that kid. You are now a murder. It wasn't enough to TRY and kill us in that fire was it? We don't know how you can live with yourself after doing that. Do you really think we want to be friends with someone who's a murderer? Sorry, we don't._

_So please do not send us anymore letters asking for forgiveness, because we will not give it and your letter will swiftly be thrown in the nearest trash can or fire._

_-Your FORMER friends_

Sitting down on his bed, TJ smiled at the letter he held in his hands. He expected his friends to feel that way, but reading it hurt so much more. He felt like crying, but he could cry anymore; he ran dry of tears. He stuck the letter back in its envelope and laid down in his bed, thinking, but that was quickly snatched away.

_'Murderer,' Alex hissed. 'You're a murderer.'_

"I know," TJ said, turning on his side to face the wall. "..leave me alone, Alex.."

_"Hmph, I don't even want to be around you," Alex said before disappearing. "No one wants to be around a murderer."_

'I know,' He said in his head. 'No one wants to be around a murderer. That's why I'm leaving.'

Taking a deep breath, TJ checked his watch; 7:20 p.m. JoJo would've gotten in the shower by now and would be out in five minutes. Reaching under his mattress he pulled out the small knife he snuck out of the kitchen. He looked at his reflection in the blade. The edges were so sharp; it looked like it could cut anything but all he needed it to do was cut flesh. Biting his lip he made one quick slash around his left wrist, followed by the same motion in the right. He dropped the knife and the sound of it dropping created the loudest bang he ever heard. Panting for air he felt the blood pour down his hands an in between his fingers before falling to the cold hard floor. Lying back down on the bed, TJ closed his eyes as he started to get what he wanted.

Sleep.

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><p><strong>Don't worry guys, I'll update soon. It's the weekend! But wouldn't that be a bitch if I never updated this story again? I'd be so mad if I were you….but I am so don't worry! :)<strong>

**There's something about the age 14 that makes me think it's like fork in the road with him…..maybe it's because I read this one story called _Time Heals All Wounds_ in this section a while back. That story really stuck with me…have any of you read it?**

**RandallXSpinelli: I still can't imagine him blonde! D: and I'm the one who made him like that. It's like I CAN, but the image slips away oh so fast.**

**Donna Nnov: I actually head that phrase on someone profile before. It was more like, "Death is Gods way of telling you you're fired. Suicide is our way of saying 'you can't fire me, I quit!'" I thought it was funny in a twisted way. :) thought I slip that in there since we're talking about death.**

**Please Review!**


	22. Blood Brothers

**After the last chapter I feel like I have the write to make chapters shorter! But I won't. It's going to be the average 3,000 that I said it would in the beginning of the story. Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, but it had to get out. Promise that next chapter will be more detailed once I figure out what's going to happen.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Drip. <em>

_**Beep.**_

_Drip. _

_**Beep**_

_Drip. _

_**Beep.**_

Struggling to open his eyes, TJ heard continuous drips and beeps coming from somewhere close. A pressure on his chest told him that breathing would take extra effort. When his eyes started to answer to his attempts of opening them, everything was blurry at first. There wasn't much color around, so he assumed that he was still in his room. But that would mean that he was still alive and that slitting his wrists didn't work. As his vision started to clear and he opened his eyes more, he saw that he was in fact not in his room. This room had light green walls, a wooden door, and a large window that moonlight was shining through. He wanted to stretch, but was too weak. Instead he settled for balling his fists as a start. Doing that he caused a sharp pain to shoot up his arms and through his shoulders and back; probably should have done that.

Looking around and moving his legs TJ realized he was in a hospital, and he was lying in a hospital bed. JoJo must've come back quick enough to see what he did and get help. Dammit.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and turned his head. He had a blistering headache that was splitting his skull and only wanted it to go away. Opening his eyes he saw a heart monitor next to his bed with wires leading to patches that we attached to his chest. A bag of blood hung close to it, leading to needle injecting it into his left wrist. Those two things explained the dripping and beeping he was hearing. There were also chairs next to bed, and Principal Prickly was sleeping in one of them.

He had expected his parents to be there; after all he just tried to kill himself. But he had given up on his parents a while ago, and knew they weren't going to come. Still, a part of him wanted to hope for the opposite. They didn't come when his eye was cut and he was left with five stitches and a blind eye.

Feeling his energy start to return, he looked down at his wrists and saw blood soaked bandages wrapped around them. He could also see that his ankle was handcuffed to the rail of the bed to keep him from escaping. The last time he was in the hospital for his eye the handcuffed his wrists, but now his wrists needed to be cared for, and his ankles were a replacement.

Taking a deep breath he could hear the sounds of doctors and nurses passing outside of his room. How long ago was he sent here? It felt like a few hours. A few LONG hours. And he needed a few more hours of sleeping to feel better. He closed his eyes, and started to work on getting those few hours.

"It's about time you woke up." TJ looked and saw his former principal was now awake.

"Mmm-hmm," TJ mumbled.

"You know you had me worried sick," The principal said. "What were you doing cutting your wrists trying to kill yourself? Suicide is never the answer"

"It's complicated, sir," He said. "I-I really need to sort through it myself before I can give you can answer. But right now I just feel like being quiet." So they sat in silence with the only sound coming from the heart monitor and the footsteps from outside the door.

TJ wanted to be happy that he was still alive. He _wanted _to, but couldn't. It wasn't so much that he wasn't happy it didn't work, but more that he hadn't been able to feel much lately when it came to emotions. He was tired when it came to that, and found it much easier to block them all out to give himself a break of the ups and downs. But he had wanted it to work because he didn't know how much more of juvie he could handle. It was already becoming too much, and this was just the beginning. He didn't know how he was going to make it or if he was at all. And it wasn't like people outside were rooting for him to get better any time soon. They wanted nothing to do with him. So why not do everyone a favor and stop living?

_"Pitiful." Alex spat. "YOU CAN'T EVEN KILL YOURSELF RIGHT! Is there anything you can't fuck up?"_ No amount of talking ever worked in getting Alex to leave him alone, so TJ choose to stop answering him. It, like other things, wasn't worth it anymore.

While TJ contemplated his own mortality, his Prickly was wondering the same thing. If someone had told him four years ago that Detweiler would be sitting in hospital bed after he tried to end his life, they would've been swiftly dismissed as someone who has lost a few too many marbles. Now it's as if the worlds been turned upside down. He wanted to know what was going on in his former students head, but knew that TJ didn't know what was going on either.

And where the hell were this kids parents? He arrived over five hours ago and hasn't seen them anywhere. Then again, they weren't here the last time, so there was a good chance they wouldn't come this time.

"Principal Prickly?" TJ asked once he had enough energy to sit up. "You remember that one time when I was in kindergarten and I was sent to your office for the first time because I pushed another kid into the mud because he made fun of my dog who got hit by a car that weekend and instead of giving me a detention you did that whole helicopter thing when you lifted me up into the air and spun me around?"

"You actually remember that?"

"Yeah because after that I kept getting into trouble just to go to your office and you always did that helicopter thing until I was halfway through first grade."

"You were too heavy to pick up then," Said Principal Prickly. "That's when I started giving you detentions."

"Yep…I wasn't even mad or anything. I was kind of too focused on playing with my old friends to really notice."

"I can't believe you actually remember that," Said the Principal. "That was so long ago…" Before the conversation could continue, the door was knocked on and a doctor came through.

"Hello," The doctor said. "You gave us quite the scare there. You lost a lot of blood but we have your blood type in-stock and gave you that transfusion in your arm right now. You're lucky you're still alive."

"How long was I out?" TJ asked him.

"A little over seven hours," Said the doctor. "Are you hungry? The nurses are coming by with food from the cafeteria. Just relax, and focus on getting your strength back. We've already called your parents for you."

"You don't need to call my parents," TJ told him. "My dad is already here sitting next to me." Nodding, the doctor left, leaving the two of them alone.

"You didn't have to say that," Principal Prickly said.

"I think I did," Said TJ. "I mean if you visited me more than my parents, and you were here with me in the hospital both times, I think you're more of a parent to me than they are. I already told you I felt that way before I went to juvie. This only proves it. Besides, it's been what, six months since I came here and they've seen me once? What kind of parents visits their kid once in six months? They won't even pick up the phone when I call. And now I'm in the hospital from trying to kill myself. If that's not reason enough to come and see me then I don't know what is. You are my father, and I don't care what anyone else thinks about that."

"You know most principals wouldn't continue talking to their students after they're gone," Said Prickly.

"I know, and I'm thankful that you do," TJ said. "'Cause I'd be thinking of another way to kill myself when I get out of here instead of reconsidering the whole thing."

"Why would you even do it in the first place? You could've died!"

"It's terrible in there," He said. "Guards make you fight other inmates, they'll beat the crap out of you if you don't, I wouldn't have even thought about it if it wasn't for the white rooms; they drug you, put you in a straitjacket, drug you some more, leave you to wallow in your own filth. I've seen kids kill themselves on a regular basis, just to get out. And I don't blame them for doing it!"

"So what's it going to take for you to never try this again?"

"I dunno," He said. "I just need to know someone out there gives a damn about me. If I call you, you'll pick up right?"

"If I'm there," Said the Principal.

"Thanks."

Ten minutes later the nurse came by with a tray of food which TJ thought was a huge step up from the food in Duval. He wasted no time eating it like he hasn't eaten in a long time. It wasn't the most delicious food, but at least it had favor. He rather it that then the food blocks they fed him in juvie.

"There's something I've been wondering about since fourth grade but I never asked 'cause I thought it would be rude," TJ said after swallowing a mouth full of food.

"And what would that be?"

"How old are you?" He asked.

"…old."

"But you can't be THAT old," TJ said. "I always guessed that it was somewhere between your mid to late 40's. Maybe early 50's, but no older than that 'cause you wanted to be promoted to the middle school principal and if you were that old then there would be no point in getting promoted because your career would already almost be over."

"Why are you considered about my age?" said the principal.

"I'm just curious."

"Well don't be. It's none of your concern."

"Fine…..one more question though."

"One more."

"What were you like when you were a kid?"

"….you just had to ask that one," Prickly said. "A little like you were when you were ten. Playing pranks, causing trouble, getting on the principals last nerve. I remember filling his car with jell-o for making us sit through a presentation on oral health; he deserved it. But I grew out of that."

"I bet your whole experience with me has been one long episode of de-ja-vu."

"You have no idea."

After two more days in the hospital, TJ was cleared to be released back to Duval. He left the hospital with three stitches on each wrist. It was awkward having stitches there since bending his wrist were a part of daily life, but he thought he would get used to it soon enough. Why they would send him back to the place that made him want to kill himself was a question he did not feel like answering. He just wanted to figure out how not to get sent back into the white rooms ever again. Maybe this was time to do was JoJo told him to do; that whole thing about becoming someone else. But he was still a little weak from losing a lot of blood. Stepping back into the dorms was surreal. It didn't feel like the place he had been living in for the last six months, it felt different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Not wanting to focus on why it felt that way, TJ quickly spotted the guys at their usual table and walked over.

"Look who's still alive," Said Bandit.

"Freckles, how the fuck are you gonna try and go out like that?" JoJo said. "You don't think we wanna get outta 'ere? But you know what? We don'tbe tryin' to kill ourselves! That's the pussy way of goin' out, 'specially how you was tryin' to. You ain't even really wanna die. If you wanted to die, that knife woulda went across your neck, not your wrists. Grab a gun and shot yourself, or let a bunch of dogs tear you apart, don't slit your wrist like some melodramatic emo pussy living in the suburbs who parents make $100,000 a year; go out like a man. I am thoroughly disgusted. Sit down Freckles and grab some cards before I smack the blonde out of your hair and the freckle off your cheeks." Taken back by what JoJo said, TJ sat down and picked up the cards that were dealt to him. "Thoroughly Disgusted…." JoJo Mumbled under his breath.

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

Having come back early in the day, TJ still had to go to school and eat the putrid lunch bestowed upon the inmates. But that also meant he would be going outside twice a day, and he needed that even though he wouldn't be doing anything much different than inside. Instead of sitting at a table outside the group sat on the ground against the wall of Duval, talking to pass the time.

"I'm so mad right now!" Bandit said pacing back and forth in front of everyone.

"….why are you SO MAD RIGHT NOW?" JoJo teased. "Stop pacin'. You makin' me dizzy."

""Cause Daft Punk just released their new album 16 hours ago and I'm not the first in line!" HE yelled. "I'm tired of listening to the same music over and over again."

"All their music IS the same thing OVER and OVER again," Specs said. "Your argument is invalid."

"Don't you ever argue like those two," JoJo told TJ. ""Cause if you do, you've run out of stuff to do."

"Who's Daft Punk?" Asked TJ, not paying attention to JoJo.

"Jesus tap dancing Christ where the fuck have you been, kid?" Bandit said. "JoJo, handle your boy before I hold him down and force him to listen to _Homework_ for a week."

"Not everyone's a music buff," JoJo said. "Chill the fuck out. Specs, Freckles, stand up so we can do this thing. We would've done this sooner Freckles but your dumbass decided to cut your wrists. You own me for having to clean up your blood." Reaching into his pocket, JoJo pulled out the same knife TJ used a few days ago, now clean. "I swear to God if any of you are gonna back out halfway through this, back out now." Taking the knife JoJo gave himself a small cut on his index finger and passed it to Specs, who did the same thing. The knife continued to be passed around until it reached TJ who didn't know what was going on.

"Would anyone mind telling me what's going on?" TJ asked, holding the knife in his hand.

"Listen, do you wanna have someone to have your back?" JoJo asked him.

"I guess so."

"And do you want someone to lookout for you?"

"Yeah."

"Then cut your finger and stop bitching!"

"First you tell me I'm a coward for cutting my wrist then you tell me to cut my finger," TJ said as he used the blade to make a small cut. "Tell me how that makes sense…"

"Okay, since Box was only in here for a year and he's gone, and since the rest of us is in here until we reach our various ages, all of which are over 18, I'm making a pact."

"This must be really important," Specs mumbled. "He's using proper grammar."

"For how long we're in here, all of us have got to have each other's backs," JoJo told them. "Someone comes along and fucks with one of us, then we all go out and fuck with them. Gotta have each other backs," He said, picking up a rock off the ground. "That's what blood brothers do. Now drop your blood on the rock." As he held out the rock, each of the boys stuck out their finger and let a single drop of blood land on it. Once JoJo let his fall last, he tossed it over the fence. "Don't none of you back out; we're family now. You don't back out on your brothers. Got it?"

"Got it."

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><p><strong>I know I ask you all questions but I have another! Um, out of all the kids at Third Street, who do you think would end up in juvie? Not for years; just a few weeks or a month for something minor. <strong>

**Donna Nnov: Hehe, sorry about the extra-long chapter. I didn't originally plan it to be 8,000 words, but once I wrote down everything I wanted to happen it just became that big. I thought it was going to be like, 10,000 once I wrote everything I wanted but I'm glad it didn't! ;P Don't worry, I'm not going to write a chapter THAT big ever again. It was just necessary to put everything in there. As for the white room and what happens in there, it's not unheard of. There are juvenile detention centers that have guards who abuse the inmates. Most don't, but the few that do are the ones that make juvie seem like a horrible place to go to. I actually based Duval off of a juvenile center I seen in a documentary. A quote from it was that 'rehabilitation doesn't always work, so we are only here to punish the inmate for the crime they commit.' **

**RandallXSpinelli: ….I feel a little bad for having them not forgive him. :) I mean, ugh! It's like you want them to forgive him, but you don't at the same time which is really confusing, but it's an important part of the story so there's that. I was trying to make the letter…._meaner_. I didn't want to have it so that the guess seemed mean for what they said but I think they didn't sound mean, at least a little bit. But can you blame them? This whole story is just one series of unfortunate event after another….Oh well. I'm glad you liked the way I gave information about Specs without being to overbearing about it. I don't want to spend too much time on each of them and I think I have a method of not doing that anymore. :)**

**Please Review!**


	23. KickAss

**LONG AUTHOR NOTE**

**I've been incredibly lazy lately. Not with the fanfiction though; no that's not what I'm talking about. But I would like to say that I would've had this up during the week if it wasn't for an annoy case of hives that keeps coming back….it's okay now, but it still pisses me off and keeps me from focusing on the story. That's why I hate it so damn much. But enough about THAT….**

**Okay so, I don't know I don't know how many off you actually give a damn to look at my profile (I don't blame you if you don't) but I got a crap-load of stories I want to write. And that's kind of a bad thing. It's good for you guys 'cause you know I'll be around for a while, but for me it serves as a distraction. So here's the game plan.**

**I'm going to do this story, and try finish _Angels Watching Over Us_ and _Time Heals Us All_ by the summer. It would be sooner but with college and everything holding me back from updating as often as I like, it'll be THAT long until these stories are done especially for this one because I estimate that I'll be well over 200,000-plus words since I'm not even close to the halfway point. More like 2/10ths of the way there. Yeah. Good news is I'm working my ass off during the week so that when I go home I have no work to do and can focus on the stories and sleeping; my two favorite past times. When the hell is spring break….?**

**After that I'll be doing mostly one-shots then going to work on another multi-chapter fic which doesn't focus on just the red-capped little bastard I portrayed in this as all my other stories. I would talk more detail into THAT but I'll save it for tumblr…..If any of you have questions and would like an answer faster than I update this story you might want to go my tumblr and ask. Astronomeralways. Tumblr. com**

**Read On!**

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><p><em><strong>ONE MONTH LATER<strong>_

_Dear Journal,_

_I feel kind of like a hypocrite. A few months ago I killed a kid who was only here for two weeks and felt so horrible about it, and here I am now. Is what I'm doing now worse than killing the kid? It could be because that kill only had to suffer once, and what I do now can happen over and over again. At least the kid is out of his misery. Then again it's not even my fault. The other inmates keep messing with us and bring it on themselves. What, do they think we're not going to fight back?_

_All this philosophizing is giving me a headache…._

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

Cracking his knuckles, TJ walked out of one of the dorms, green lensed goggles clutched in one of his fists. Today was a particularly busy day that he hoped would happen again anytime soon, or at least he had more stamina. His fists were aching, his arms were throbbing, and he still had practice later on! He wanted to say he couldn't do it, but he knew that if he wanted to get anywhere that avoiding practice even for one day was not an option. He stretched his arms out and rotated his arms before heading over to the usual table where he and the others hung out. JoJo was standing up and leaning against the nearby pillar smoking a cigarette, while Specs laid his head in his arms on the table and Bandit sat next to him with headphones blasting music into his ears. After sitting down, TJ tossed the goggles to Specs, who was quietly sobbing away. Looking up, Specs saw his beloved goggles in front of him and quickly put them on, smiling at the familiar feel of the straps against his skin and the green-toned view of the world.

"I ain't think you could do it," JoJo said as he exhaled a breath full of smoke. "Congratulations Freckle's. You didn't get knocked the fuck out."

"Were you expecting me to?" TJ asked him, grabbing the pack of cigarettes on the table. "I'm hurt that you would expect any less."

""cause you've been bitchin' lately. But you a'ight, I guess. For a scrub…"

"Leave 'em alone," Said Bandit. "He's doing better than a month ago….."

"Yes I am," TJ said. "Much better."

**~*~ONE MONTH EARLIER~*~**

"This is some bullshit," JoJo said as he watched TJ, bandit, and Specs approach with fresh bruises and limps as they walked. "What the fuck happened?"

"What does it look like?" TJ said as he struggled over.

"We got beat up, man," Bandit told JoJo. "Shit…"

"I a'ready knew that," Said JoJo. "What's I'm askin' is _**why**_?"

"Because you sent us to fight some guys older, bigger, and stronger than us?" Spec answered. "I told you it wouldn't work…."

"And why didn't you come and help us?" Bandit snapped at JoJo. "It would've helped! Goddamn, I want my headphones back!"

"'Cause they would expect me," JoJo said. "You all gotta step your game up. Freckles, learn how to throw a fist, Specs, you need to stay on your feet, and Bandit, you need to bulk up."

"I know how to throw a fist," TJ said to him. "How hard could it possibly be?"

"And it's kind of hard to stay up when you keep getting knocked down," Said Specs.

"He's right though," Bandit said to the two boys. "You're fighting techniques needs some improvement, 'specially you Freckles; you gonna break your hand the way you punching."

"See? I'm right. Like always," said JoJo. "How 'bout you teach these punks some fighting techniques? Some kung-fu or karate or some shit like that."

"Oh, so 'cause I'm Japanese I know kung-fu or karate," Bandit said. "That's racist; just fucked up. I don't know any damn kung-fu OR karate. Fuck, do YOU know how to play the base guitar?"

"Yeah."

"Well I don't know kung-fu," Bandit said, folding his arms. "I do know little boxing and some kickboxing though. Just don't stereotype me 'cause of it."

"Well can we work on it tomorrow?" TJ said as he located all the bruises he obtained. "Turning colors over here….."

"If you gonna keep bitchin' 'bout it.."

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

Laughing with his friends, TJ remembered how different things were a month ago. A month ago, anyone in here would have been able to come up to him take whatever he had, and he knew that he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it because he was too weak to effectively fight back. Now, he could throw one hell of a punch and fight for what was his and the others.

It hurt at first; Bandit had made him and Specs punch the pillars in place of a punching bag for at least an hour a day. Each day his fingers were swollen because of it. But then he was told the right way to make a fist and that helped more than TJ imagined it would. Punching the cement pillars was much easier after that. But kicking it did a number on his legs. After a week, they decided to see if any progress was made and go after the guys who stole Bandits headphones, and found that they were able to fight back easier and more effectively. That was enough to motivate TJ to keep training, and he was even happier because of it a month later.

He wasn't the weakest inmate anymore, and he had three other guys to back him up. He was more than happy to back the others up if they needed him to; blood brothers stick together, just like JoJo said. And everyone else knew that. He kept that promise when someone took Specs goggles and went after them, beating them up and letting them know that it'll happen again if they messed with his friend.

TJ didn't like the fighting at first, but he wasn't going to let himself be a push over neither. If others were willing to fight him, then he knew he had to be willing to fight back, and sometimes those fights were deadly, but he was determined not to die in juvie. At least not by anyone else hand but his own.

Along with everyone now knowing what he and the others were capable of, the training gave TJ some unexpected benefits as well. He was stronger, which he expected, and his arms and chest were showing the signs of muscle development. It wasn't anything close to a six-pack, but it was a start and he had to start somewhere.

When his hair grew and the roots showed his natural color, TJ surprised himself by not wanting the chestnut color back. Rather, he asked JoJo to bleach it like he did before to keep himself blonde. In exchange for doing it, JoJo only asked him to tighten his dreadlock with a different formula and patience. So he stayed blonde.

Everything was starting to not look so dreary; he had friends to back him up, he was stronger, and a few inmates knew to stay out of his way for their own safety.

"You gonna take a cigarette or what?" JoJo asked him, bring him out of his thoughts of the last month.

"Huh? Oh, um no," TJ said tossing them to him. "I changed my mind."

"Then don't hold 'em hostage," Said Bandit as he took a cigarette and lit it. "Some of us need 'em to relax."

"Freckles can't relax until he gets some new shoes," JoJo said.

"Shoes?" TJ asked looking at his feet. He was given shoes from the prison and they were definitely not made to be comfortable, just to satisfy the definition of shoes. His feet aches after walking every day. There were days where he didn't wear shoes just to give his feet a break; his feet were always thankful for the relief. "But they don't sell shoes at the commissary."

"So? You still get shoes," JoJo told him. "Look at ours." Looking down at everyone's feet, TJ saw that they were not wearing the prison shoes. They were wearing name brand shoes from the outside; JoJo had on a pair of Nikes, Bandit sported a pair of Timberlands, and Specs a pair of red Converse reminding him of his old shoes he had on before he was given his uniform.

"Hey where'd you guys get those shoes?" TJ asked, shocked that he was suffering with his shoes while those around him weren't.

"We got connections," Said Bandit. "Why, you want some shoes?"

"Hell yeah! These shoes suck!"

"A'ight, a'ight calm down," JoJo told him. "Don't get yo panties in a bunch…" Getting out of his seat JoJo headed for the phone booth and signaled for TJ to come over. All TJ could do was listen and lean against the wall as JoJo talked on the phone.

"Yeah…..uh-huh…I dunno, what you want?...girl, are you crazy? You owe me for the last time….," JoJo talked into the phone. "What shoe size are you?"

"A ten I guess," TJ told him. "It was eight when I came here but these shoes are small now…."

"He said ten…." JoJo spoke into the phone. "…oh….oh a'ight…..yeah dats a'ight…okay…yeah now, like NOW…..ok…..bye." JoJo put the phone down and turned to face TJ. "C'mon, Freckles we gotta hurry."

"Where are we going?" TJ asked as he followed JoJo back to the others.

"Bandit, Specs, lemme and Freckles through the hole," JoJo said to the others. "Just watch, I ain't got time to explain shit." They followed bandit and Specs to their nearby room. On their wall was a vent that Specs was able to take off and reveal the rest of the vent. It wasn't large, but still big enough for a person to crawl through. "Let's go Freckles," JoJo said before going inside. If it wasn't for his experience of climbing through vents at Third Street, TJ wouldn't have followed. He crawled through the vents with JoJo in front of him for ten minutes before he was told to stop. TJ waited and saw JoJo slowly crawl ahead only to fall out the end of the hole. Following, TJ dropped out too and saw that the vent led to the outside.

"Get against the wall," JoJo hissed at him. "I ain't getting' caught for you!"

"Okay, okay, damn," TJ mumbled as he pressed himself against the brick wall of the building. "You didn't give a warning."

"I shouldn't have to," Said JoJo. "Come on," He said, walking against the wall. TJ followed, doing the same. Looking around as they walked along, he could he why they were walking the way they were. There were towers with guards looking around from any escapees. Staying close to the building helped avoid getting noticed. "A'ight. We gotta run across, so keep up. Ready?"

"Ready," Said TJ. Within seconds JoJo dashed off with TJ behind. The ran as fast as they could across the open area to the building that sat across from the one the male inmates were held. They stopped when they reached the building and pressed themselves against the wall once again. After catching their breath, JoJo walked to the edge.

"Veronica, get ova 'ere!" JoJo Yelled.

"You get 'ova 'ere!" A female voice yelled.

"I am ova 'ere!" JoJo. "Hurry the fuck up, I ain't got all day!"

"You better watch your mouth, JoJo!" The voice said. "I ain't like everyone else; I'll hit you!" Looking over at JoJo, Tj saw a girl walkover to them. With short black choppy hair and a prison uniform fashioned as a dress, she had a pair of shoes around her neck tied together with the shoelaces.

"Uh-huh," JoJo told her. "Just gimme the shoes."

"No thank you or nothin'?" She said, handing the shoes over to him.

"Say thank you Freckles," JoJo said tossing him the shoes. "And hurry up, put those on."

"Wait," TJ said looking over the shoes. They were colored black and purple, but didn't quite look right. "These are girls shoes!"

"So? They'll fit," Said JoJo.

"Thanks for the shoes, I guess," He said as he put them on. They did indeed fit, but TJ still couldn't get the act that they were girls shoes. But they sure beat the old pair he had.

"No problem," said the girl. "You two gotta get outta 'ere, guards are startin' to come around."

"A'ight, c'mon Freckles!"

~*~DUVAL~*~

"Hey look they made it back," Specs said as TJ and JoJo climbed back into the dorms through the vents. "We were starting to think you two got caught."

"Never get caught," JoJo said. "Ever. Now, let's get back to that game."

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><p><strong>Hehe, sorry I didn't update on Saturday, I was busy. I feel as if this chapter was uneventful. Anyways, I have no idea for the next chapter. Any idea's you guys want to see? I'll probably make it into a chapter.<strong>

**S. S. Pie: Thanks for putting this story on alert! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Be sure to stay around, there's plenty more to come.**

**Donna Nnov: Of course it'll lead to something dramatic! :D It always does, doesn't it? As for his parents, that'll have to wait until later chapters. I'll be interesting I promise.**

**RandallXSpinell: yes, Daft Punk! Love those guys. I've been wanting to make a reference to them since forever and I was finally able to squeeze them in there. I've always wanted to see that movie they made, Interstella: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, but I can never find it. I'm sure I probably could at a particular store but it's nowhere near where I live…..**

**Please Review!**


	24. High Fidelity

**Sorry about last chapter. I just wanted to get a chapter out before the weekend was over. But hopefully this chapter makes up for it! God I hope so, even I was disappointed with the last one…..**

**Alas, this chapter will make up for it because we step away from the usual and do something new. You'll all see what it is when you start reading. I changed the title of this chapter like five times before settling on this one…**

**So I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out. Not like soon or anything, probably in the summer or soon afterwards. That by itself would be fine because getting your wisdom teeth taken out is common, but they have to put me to sleep to do it because of my tongue and that is unsettling for me...D: has anyone ever gone under? If so what's it like? I hear it's like going to sleep but do you dream?**

**I give credit to Edgar Allen Poe for a poem in this chapter. :) the guy was great.**

**Go Forth, and read on!**

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><p><strong>~*~SIX MONTHS AGO~*~<strong>

Stepping outside of their temporary school that is the community center a group of five students took in a large breath of fresh air. They, as well as the large group of students behind them looked around cautiously and waited for something to happen. They waited for the sound of exploding fireworks, for the smell of smoke, or even for the slightest sign something was awry. Nothing.

"Do you guys hear that?" Spinelli asked no one in particular.

"Hear what?" Gus asked her. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. No more pranks, and no more TJ to pull those pranks."

Without warning, the crown erupted into cheers before running onto the playground with all their fears put at rest. The kids freely played on the equipment outside without any fear that it would come apart, blow up, or dissolve into an unrecognizable mush. Balls were bounced and tossed and thrown around the pavement, the jungle gym was climbed to the very top and the swings were swung on without a nagging feeling that there was something wrong going on. And everyone loved it.

**~*~END OF FLASHBACK~*~**

_Dear Journal,_

_It's not so unbearable in here once you get used to it. But still, I could use a job to make money. I need to buy things and money isn't going to come out of the air. They should pay us for all the rocks we break and all the dishes we clean in here!_

_I wonder if there's a way to make money in here…I can't think of anything, but I need to quick; I'm broke. _

_~*~V~*~_

"At this rate I predict your muscle mass for the biceps brachii, serratus anterior, and latissimus dorsi will more than double by this time next year," Specs said.

"Can you say that again in English?" TJ asked him.

"…..keep training like this and you'll be stronger this time next year."

"Oh."

Pushing against the cold cement floor with his hands, TJ completed 25 of 50 push-ups he planned to do. Instead of playing cards with JoJo and Bandit, he and Specs took on a different challenge. TJ was quite frankly getting tired of playing cards every day, and since he didn't want to get beat up by some chump, chose to workout instead. Specs however took the opportunity to do measurements and calculations relating to his workout to keep his brain from rotting. While doing those calculations, Specs made himself useful and sat on TJs back while he trained; he didn't weigh much in the first place, so the added weight help him make more progress than without.

"Although I admire you willingness to train, I feel it is my duty to inform you that extra weight on your back will do more harm than good," Specs told him. "Instead you should just increase how many push-ups you do and decrease the amount of time you give yourself to do them."

"Well then get off my back," TJ said. "You're the one who said this was a good idea."

"Yes, but I only wanted to see if you could do it," Said Specs, getting off his back. "Plus, you've already done 50 push-ups already. You can stop now."

"And stop tryin' to be a fuckin' show-off," JoJo yelled from the table. "Why the hell do you need to do 50 push-ups?"

"Because I don't feel like playing cards all the time," TJ said as he got off of the floor. "What's it to you, JoJo? I'm not distracting you or nothing."

"Whateva," JoJo told him, going back to his game. "Hey, do me favor and get my lighter from the room."

"I wouldn't do it if I wasn't headed there already…" TJ said as he headed for his and JoJo's room. Stretching his arms he figured that he should get his books too; school would be starting in about fifteen minutes and he didn't feel like coming back in the room just for books. But first things first, he wanted something to drink and it was in his room. Turning into the room he and JoJo shared, he was not greeted with the sight of an empty room, but the sight of someone rummaging through his things. Notebooks, textbooks, uniforms, the chips, candy, and soda he bought from the commissary were all scattered on the for as the intruding inmate searched through his things. Not wasting anytime, TJ firmly grabbed the intruder by the collar of his prison jumpsuit and pulled him onto his feet just before landing a punch on his face sending him back onto the floor. The boy tried to leave the room while holding his now bleeding nose, but was sent back to the floor again when TJ gave him a swift uppercut to his chin. Dizzy, the inmate felt himself being lifted onto his feet by his front collar.

"I don't ever want to see you in my room ever again," TJ told him. "Next time I'll break your face instead of just your nose!"

"Okay, okay! Just let me go!" The inmate held, guarding his face with his hands.

"Scrub," TJ mumbled as he tossed him out of the room. "Get the fuck out of here!" The inmate scrabbled to his feet before running off. Turning back into the room TJ saw the mess that was still there and regretted tossing the intruder out.

"Should've made him clean this up," He said to himself. "Shit…" After being in juvie for six months, there was only one part of it that TJ wasn't used to, and that was cleaning after himself (and sometimes after others as a form of punishment by the guards). The fighting, he was used to. The food, he was used to. The lasting mental impact of being in the white rooms, he was grasping. He was even used to seeing inmates kill themselves, though that slowed down considerably since Suicide September was coming to a close. But having to clean? No; fuck that. But it was still better than being out in the scorching sun breaking rocks.

He usually didn't have to clean because the room wasn't messy (JoJo wouldn't let him make it messy) and he was barely in there for anything else but sleeping and getting dressed. So it wasn't a problem. But then snatchers like the last one had to come out and make his room a mess.

After putting everything where it was supposed to be, TJ grabbed his backpack, JoJo's lighter, and a bottle of soda before heading back out. Being in the room just made him mad for having to clean it.

"Catch," He said, tossing the lighter to JoJo.

"What took you so long?" JoJo asked as he lit the cigarette in his mouth.

"Some snatcher was going through our stuff," TJ said. "Don't worry though; I got him before he took anything."

"He ain't take none of my books did he?"

"I just said I got him before he took anything," TJ told him. "Listen…."

Before the conversation could continue, the bell signaling the time for school rang. Getting in line, TJ put his backpack on and relished in the fact that this school years was almost over. They might only get a two week vacation from school before their next year, but it was something.

**~*~U~*~**

"And although there is no legitimate reason for the school system to require teaching calculus in high school unless you plan to be an engineer, or have some other job requiring math, they're still going to teach it to you anyways. Your best bet is to become friends with the smart student in class and get them to help you. Now, when it comes to English SparkNotes is your best bet….."

As the teacher gave a lecture about how to make it through high school, TJ went in and out of paying attention. Of course those things were important, but his mind was somewhere else during class.

Next school year he would be in the ninth grade, something he would usually be looking at with a grimace. But at least he still got what could be considered to be a recess; that was a big bonus. Plus, he figured it couldn't be too hard if they hired teachers like Mr. Doctor. The guy always gave lectures about how to make through school along with the normal lesson. And the workload was pretty easy.

Bored, TJ looked around the room at the students; the kid next to him who was always doing LSD in class, the kids across the class _selling_ the LSP along with other drugs, the kids who were actually taking notes or simply paying attention…..Bandit had one ear bud in his ear, JoJo was sitting in the back talking to Specs, and what was he doing? Just sitting around half listening to the teacher.

'Ugh…..when is class over?' TJ thought to himself. Yawning he looked at the clock. Still had thirty minutes to go. He would love to spend those minutes sleeping. Would he even get noticed? The teacher didn't seem to care that some kids were doing drugs in class, so sleeping shouldn't be noticed either. If it did, then he would just join the bandwagon and do the drugs….

TJ folded his arms and laid his head on the desk, closing his eyes. He didn't worry abot waking up when the class was over the bell that rang at the end of the class was definitely loud enough to wake him up.

~*~V~*~

"Come 'ere Freckles, I gotta tell you somethin'."

Immediately after coming back to the dorms, JoJo pulled TJ out of the class and lead him to their room. TJ wanted to go to the commissary to buy candy before it was all sold out (which wouldn't have mattered since he didn't have enough money to buy anything), but his plans were scrapped because of his roommate.

"What is it? All the candy's gonna be gone!" TJ whined as he sat on his bed. "What do you need to tell me that's so important?"

"I'm movin' out tomorrow," JoJo said. "Getting' transferred ova to the dorms for da older inmates. Just lettin' you know before tomorrow."

"Why are you getting transferred over?" TJ asked him.

"Tomorrows my birthday," Said JoJo. "Turnin' 15, so I'm getting transferred. Bandit too; our birthday is on the same day. So it's just gonna be just you 'n Specs until you two get transferred over."

"Oh. Do you know what time?"

"I dunno. Probably before breakfast," JoJo told him. "I suggest you and Specs move into the same room to avoid getting stuck with some scrub…."

"Thanks for the warning," Said TJ.

"Uh-huh. No problem," JoJo sighed. "Now come on, Specs got somethin' to show us."

**~*~U~*~**

"That better be what I think it is," Bandit said while looking at one of the many beakers and tubes resting on the table. Most of the beakers were filled with sort of colorful fluid with tubes connecting them together, but only one beakers was filling up from the tubes dripping fluid into it. TJ, JoJo, and Bandit looked at to the beakers in awe, while Specs was making sure everything was working.

"That depends," Specs said. "What do you think it is?"

"That's why we're asking you," JoJo told him. "Hurry up; some of us have to pack our shit."

"Is this for some science project that we were supposed to do and I didn't know about?" TJ asked. "'Cause that's what it looks like to me."

"No it's not that. I decided to make something we all can enjoy," Specs said to them. "I made desoxyephedrine." The blank look on everyone's face told Specs that they didn't understand a work he had said. "It's methamphetamine. You know, meth? Crystal? Speed? I made it so we could sell it and make money because we're all broke."

"Fuck that, I wanna use it myself," Bandit said grabbing the beaker. "Let's light it up!"

"No!," Said Specs as he snatched back the beaker and handing it to TJ. "It's gotta settle before you can do anything with it! But I guess there's enough to sell AND use ourselves, though it won't be done until tonight. Freckles, put the beaker back where it was and make sure Bandit doesn't take it. Using it now won't work."

Sitting the beaker back down at the table TJ sat on the bench as the other continued their conversation. After six months he had completely spent all 100 dollars he had and didn't have a penny to his name. He needed to find a way to make money and fast if he wanted to eat anything decent. Unfortunately there wasn't any way to make money besides selling drugs and he wasn't planning on doing that until he was 16.

"To hell with it," TJ mumbled to himself. "It's juvie; who gives a damn?"

"That's the spirit, Freckles," JoJo said over hearing him. "Just stay wit us and you'll have money, a'ight?"

"Mmm-hmm," TJ said. "Right. So we're trying it out tonight to make sure it's good right?"

"Yeah, to celebrate too," JoJo told him. "Before me and Bandit move. So don't plan to do nothin' tonight."

"Like I ever have anything to do," Said TJ.

~*~V~*~

"So when you get yours, make sure you stick the needle goes into your arm right above the elbow."

Holding the beaker while Specs held a lighter underneath, TJ waited along with the other's in his and JoJo's room for the white hardened mixture of chemicals to melt. They all held a needle in their hands that there taken from the nurse's office by Bandit who snuck out of the dorms to get it. It was thirty minutes before lockdown and they wanted to save it before bed. TJ was reasonably nervous about the situation. He didn't know what it was going to happen when he tried it; he only smoked a couple of times, and thought it would be something like that, but then why would they need other drugs if it made you feel the same? Was it stronger? Or did it make you feel completely different? But he wasn't going to back out like a chump; he had to make sure it was good enough to sell.

"I think it's ready," TJ said, not wanting to hold on to the hot beaker anymore. "Can we use it now?"

"Yes, I think it's ready," Specs said. "Okay, everyone give me your needle so I can make sure there aren't any air bubbles…."

"What happens if their air bubbles?" Bandit asked as he handed over his needle.

"Your heart can stop," Specs said flicking a needle. "It has to be a lot, but I just want to make sure you all don't die. At least because of me. Okay here." Specs handed everyone their now filled needles and kept one for himself. "The rest is to sell if it's good. Have fun." He said leaving the room along with Bandit to go to his own room.

Looking at the needle, TJ felt the nervousness that he had suppressed ealier come back.

"You ain't nervous, are ya Freckles?" JoJo said as he jumped onto his bed.

"No," TJ told him. "I'm not nervous! What do I look like, a chump?"

"Just sayin'," Said JoJo. "'cause you was shakin' a minute ago."

"That was nothing," He said. "It's just my first time…..have you ever done it before?"

"Yeah," JoJo said. "Stop worryin' Freckles, you'll be a'ight. You want me to shoot you up?"

"…..yeah, I think I'll miss if I do it," TJ said handing over his needle. "I don't wanna mess up."

"I don't blame ya," JoJo said as he stuck the needle in his roommates arm. "Just relax; shit's about ta happen. I'm done. Now lay down before you lose ya mind." Rubbing the spot where he was injected, TJ laid down in his own bed. Now he certainly couldn't back out now. He felt his heart start to race, but didn't know if that was because of the drug or his nerves.

'Probably just my nerves,' TJ thought. 'I wonder when it's going to wo-…oh…I think I feel it…..damn…..' Warmth shot though his entire body and jolted up his spine. Closing his eyes he took deep breaths to try and calm himself down, but had an overwhelming feeling of euphoria. The bland grey color of the bed frame, the dull white of the paint on the wall, the blue of his uniform, and the dark blue of his blanket were the most vivid and exciting colors he had ever seen, and simply looking at them make him feel like he won the lottery. He smiled ear to ear and couldn't explain why. But that didn't matter.

'I never felt this good before in my LIFE!' Jumping out of bed, TJ looked around for something to do. He felt like he could do absolutely anything and do it fast enough to do it again.

"FRECKLES!" Turning around TJ saw an excitable JoJo standing behind him with his sunglasses now sitting crocked on his face. "Do you hear that Freckles?" JoJo hissed.

"Hear what?" JoJo wrapped and arm around his shoulders and whispered in his ear.

"The winds of _change_." JoJo told him. Before the two of them knew it they were falling back on TJ's bed laughing as hard as their lungs would allow them too.

**~*~V~*~**

Rubbing his eyes, TJ winced at the sun shining through his window. Last night was a blur, but he did remember the meth and JoJo putting the needle in his arm. It felt good too. Really good. Really, really good. Stretching, he noticed that he couldn't stretch as far as he normally could. Looking at see why he saw that JoJo was taking up the other half of his bed. With a swift kick JoJo was on the floor but woke up from the impact.

"What the fuck?" JoJo said as he picked himself off of the floor. "Why you gotta kick people?"

"You have your own bed," TJ told him. "This one's mine. Yours is up there."

"Yeah whatever," JoJo mumbled as he pulled his box from under the bed. "Ya lucky I gotta pack or I'd kick your ass."

"Sure you would," TJ said into his pillow as he watched JoJo pack the few things he had. The cabinet held most of JoJo's books, which were a lot more than TJ thought he had. "Jesus how many books do you need? You probably read them all…."

"I need books," JoJo said. "Just 'cause I'm used to it here doesn't mean I don't like to escape sometimes. You should try it."

"No thanks," TJ said as the door was unlocked from the outside. "Think I'll go talk to the guys and see what they experienced last night." Leaving the room, TJ left his roommate to his packing. He spotted Specs at their table but Bandit wasn't anywhere in sight. Then he remembered that Bandit was leaving too.

"So how was it?" Specs asked him as he approached.

"That was the greatest thing ever!" TJ said as threw his arms into the air. "I wanna do it again but I know I shouldn't."

"Glad you feel that way, but you can't have any more, at least not yet," Specs told him. "The batch I made last night is kind of addictive after the high is over. Though that goes away in a few hours based off how Bandit was acting. The guy nearly choked me for not giving him more, but I went away. Using it more than once in 24 hours will probably make you an addict…..just give it a few days and I'll make more. Besides, I made it to make money. You think we should share a room when those guys move out?"

"Yeah," TJ said. "I'll move into your room since it's on the ground floor."

"Freckles!" They turned around to see JoJo and Bandit each holding a box and being lead out by a guard. We're out! I left somethin' for you on your bed."

'What would he leave me?' TJ thought has he headed up to his room. His bed was already messy, but he noticed the book sitting on his pillow. Picking it up he turned it over and read the title.

"_The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe,_" He read. "He's crazy if he thinks I'm actually going to read this," he said as he flipped through the pages. He stopped on one page that was ear marked by JoJo and looked over the words and slowly began to read without noticing. "What's so good about Edgar Allan Poe anyways….."

_**From childhood's hour I have not been  
>As others were - I have not seen<br>As others saw - I could not bring  
>My passions from a common spring -<br>From the same source I have not taken  
>My sorrow - I could not awaken<br>My heart to joy at the same tone -  
>And all I lov'd - I lov'd alone -<br>Then - in my childhood - in the dawn  
>Of a most stormy life - was drawn<br>From ev'ry depth of good and ill  
>The mystery which binds me still -<br>From the torrent, or the fountain -  
>From the red cliff of the mountain -<br>From the sun that 'round me roll'd  
>In its autumn tint of gold -<br>From the lightning in the sky  
>As it pass'd me flying by -<br>From the thunder, and the storm -  
>And the cloud that took the form<br>(When the rest of Heaven was blue)  
>Of a demon in my view –<strong>_

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><p><strong>RandallXSpinelli: Yeah, unless I wanted him to die he had to learn how to fight and stop being such a sucker. :P<strong>

**Donna Nnov: I can definitely say that we will be seeing Veronica again in the future, just not in the next few chapters. :P It would come sooner but…..life likes to get in the way when it comes to updating …but don't worry, it'll come one day. In the next arch of the story, promise. Besides, it's kind of a sausage fest in there so I'm gonna have some mercy on all the boys.**

**Please Review!**


	25. The Primetime of Your Life

**Hey there guys. How's it going? I hope it's good….**

**I know I asked you all for ideas while back, and like I promised, I'm going to use them. It's start in a few chapters. Just keep reading, you'll see it soon. **

**Go Forth and Read~**

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><p><em>Journal<em>,

_I'm never having money problems ever again! I can't believe how much money there's to be made by selling this stuff. We should've thought of this a long time ago! _

**~*~V~*~**

"Specs, you gotta have some more of that stuff!"

"It's not ready yet! And it's not for us to use! We're supposed to be selling it!"

"DO I **LOOK** LIKE I _**CARE**_?"

"Well no…no you don't..."

While on any other evening after lockdown TJ would be laying in his own bed and reading something from the book JoJo had given him, tonight that was not the case. Tonight his mind was racing at 150 mph and wasn't showing any sign of slowing down, but he had no one else to blame for himself. It's been a month since he tried meth for the first time and since then he had did it three more times since then. One of those times was last night, and another was this time a few hours ago. TJ knew that Specs told him never to do it more than twice in 48 hours, but he didn't think about that earlier. Now he had Specs by the collar and was holding him off the floor, shaking him and demanding for more.

Meanwhile, Specs was trying to make sure that he wasn't a casually in his roommates rampage.

"Okay, okay just calm down," Specs said while trying to pry TJ's hands from his collar. "Dude relax before you hurt me!"

"I'll only hurt you if you DON'T GIVE ME MORE DRUGS!" TJ yelled while shaking him. "I know you're hiding out on me! WHERE IS IT?" Tossing Specs aside, TJ rushed to his cabinet and looked inside. All the chemicals and beakers that were required to make drugs were all carefully arranged to avoid spilling and causing an explosion from happening. TJ tried to look around for the beaker that held the methamphetamine but couldn't tell it apart from the others. Was it so hard to get some drugs around here? He only wanted a little more. TJ was about to just pick the closest one, but was pulled away.

"You can't do that!" Specs said as he pulled TJ away from the cabinet. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"I would if you _**TOLD ME WHICH ONE IT WAS!**_" Yelled TJ. "TELL ME RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS!"

"Okay, just calm down…." Specs said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sit down and I'll give you some."

"It's about time," TJ said as he sat on the bed. "Hurry up I don't have all day…"

"Mmm-hmm….." Specs went through his cabinet to look for a beaker, but not for what his roommate wanted. He warned him that he would become addicted after using it two times so close together. But he wouldn't listen. Nope; no one ever listens to the smart kid. Specs was going to kick him out of the whole business but he had to admit that TJ knew how to sell stuff much better than he could. But before anything can be sold again, the salesman had to get the drug out of system, and Specs knew exactly what to do.

"Can you hurry up?" TJ snapped while trying to stop his hands from shaking.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on…" Grabbing a clean needle, Specs grabbed a bottle and filled it with a different substance than what TJ was expecting. "Give me your arm." TJ held out his arm and waited for Specs to give him what he wanted. Soon enough he felt the needle stick into his arm and push the fluid into his vein. "There. Happy now?"

"Yep. Was that so hard to do?" TJ said as he laid back and closed his eyes. "It wasn't hard at all." Taking deep breaths he felt sleepiness starting to overtake and began to fall into a slumber.

"Damn addict," Specs mumbled as he crawled into his bed. "At least it wasn't LSD. That stuff makes people trip balls….."

**~*~U~*~**

"Sorry 'bout last night dude," TJ said as he and Specs set everything up at the usual table. "I just got a little crazy."

"You got a little addicted is more like it," Specs mumbled. "We're supposed to be selling the stuff, not using it."

"I know. It was just an accident," TJ told him as the usual customers started to come over. "What'd you give me anyways?"

"It's a concoction I made to block the effects of narcotics," Said Specs. "It's supposed to help addicts stop being addicts. But it only works a few times on the same person so you can't act like last night anymore. Here come the first customers. You take care of them; I gotta go get the rest of the stuff." Sitting on the table with his feet on the bench, TJ grabbed a box he brought out of the room and looked inside. The box held lots of dime bags filled with the crystals that the other inmates craved more than food and water. It didn't even take much to sell it. They were just throwing money at them for it, and TJ was more than happy to take it. It wasn't his problem if they decided to use it; he didn't stick the needle in their arm. He just showed them how and gave them the needle.

"H-hey," TJ looked from the box to see a customer he had since day one. A disheveled, blood shot eyed, shaking 13 year-old clenching money in one hand and rubbing his nose with the other. "D-do you have any more of t-that stuff?"

"Of course I do," TJ told him. "I always have enough for my best customer. How much are you buying today?"

"H-however much I-I can get for this.." The boy said handing over all the money he held. TJ took a moment to count it before giving anything to him. One hundred dollars in five twenty's. A little less than usual, but TJ wasn't about to ask where he got that kind of money. At long as he was willing to give it to him that's all that mattered. Reaching into the box TJ pulled out five dime bags and handed them over to the shaking inmate standing in front of him. "Thanks!"

"No problem."

For the whole day TJ and Specs worked on selling and making money. By the noon they had already had made $2,500, and that was considered a _slow_ day. Normally they could make at least $5,000 in one day, but half of that was just as good. By now, TJ knew that Saturday was a slow day; Monday's were the day that they could make up to $7,000 before noon. Then again Saturday was visiting day. Guards came in and lead the inmates to the visiting room. Knowing is parents weren't going to come, TJ was only expecting one person to come and see him.

"You know, I'm kind of curious as to why you keep visiting me," TJ said as he sat down at one of the tables. "It's nice and everything, but I'm just curious. Most principals wouldn't visit a student who got sent to juvie; especially students like me."

"I said I would visit you and I am. You're acting like you don't want me too," Said Principal Prickly. "I can go home right now and you can just call instead of talking face to face."

"No, don't do that," TJ said. "I was just making an observation. But I am curious though. Why do you keep visiting me? I'm not saying I'm not grateful, but why?"

"Isn't it good enough that I visit?" The principal asked. "What more do you want?"

"Nothing. Just an answer to why."

"You're not going to leave this alone, are you?"

"Nope. You know me long enough to know that I won't leave this alone until you give me an answer."

"Alright fine. Listen, because I'm only going to say this once," The principal said. "Remember when you asked me what my son was like and I told you he was a lot like you? With all the pranks he played?" TJ nodded. "Well, you sort of remind me of him. At least back when you were ten and were playing pranks. I know you probably didn't notice it, but I gave you easier punishments than the rest of the students simply because you were so much like Zackary. Somewhere between when you were in kindergarten and second grade I suppose I started treating you like you were my son. I always told myself I would stop doing that when were older and about to go off to middle school. Then they added that addition to the school to solve the overcrowding at the middle school and you never left and I kept putting it off. I guess you became like a son to me. That's why I keep visiting you. That, and I'd hate to see someone like you go to waste."

"Wow. Really?" TJ asked.

"Yep."

"….Wasn't expecting that," Said TJ. "Wish you were my dad though. Then my parents would be visiting me and answering my phone calls. Thanks for answering my question. Sorry I became a screw up."

"You're not a screw up, Detweiler," Said Prickly. "You just went a little crazy and it got out of hand. Just don't let being in here turn you into a junior criminal."

"I'll try," TJ mumbled. "But if push comes to shove and becoming a criminal is a matter of life and death, I'm not making any promises. So how's retirement treating you?"

"I'm thinking that I should've just to another job at another school instead of retiring," Said the principal. "Retirement isn't as great as they make it out to be."

"If you ever want to come out of retirement I overheard my teacher talking about a job available to run the school in here," He said. "Just a thought."

"I think I'll stick to retirement," Prickly told him. "At least for another year. I've been getting offers from other schools because I had you as a student. I But this visit isn't about me. What have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much," TJ told him. "Just trying to not get hurt and to stop my things from getting stolen, sir. Is everyone still talking about me….you know, killing that kid?"

"Not anymore."

"Good. I thought they would never shut-up about it," TJ said. "I feel bad enough for doing it…" A bell overhead signaling the end of visiting hours rang. Kids started to get out of their seats and head back into the dorms. "Thanks for visiting me again, sir."

Joining the other inmates, TJ got in line and waited for the guards to take them back to their dorms. Checking his pocket, he made sure that he still had three dime bags with him. His highest paying customer would be coming by soon and he wanted to make sure everything was going to go by smoothly. Once the line began to move he and the other inmates were taken down the hallway. Halfway to the dorms, TJ was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, and saw that a guard tapped him on the shoulder and was signaling for him to come over. Following the guard, TJ was lead into a room that he was familiar with.

"How much?" The guard asked him.

"That depends," TJ said, folding his arms. "How much you got?" TJ watched as he guard reached into his pocket and pulled out money from his wallet. After the guard handed the money over TJ counted. "$500? Okay, here." Reaching into his pocket, TJ gave him two of the three bags.

"This is _it?_" The guard asked with anger in his voice. "I gave you $500! I paid for more than this!"

"Take it or leave it!" TJ told him. "You're not my only customer!"

"You better give me more for this or I'll put you back in the white rooms!"

"Then where are you gonna get your fix?" TJ threatened. "If I'm in the white rooms you can get anything so I know you're not gonna take me there. So what's your next threat?"

"…whatever," The guard said as he opened the door. "Go back to the dorms you little bastard…..cheating me out of my own fucking money…"

"Nag, nag, nag," TJ said as he walked away. "I didn't have to give you shit. Whoever said the customer is always right was on some serious drugs _that_ day."

**~*~V~*~**

Customer service wasn't TJ's number one policy. It was number two, but it still wasn't number one. It would be if he was selling something like candy or the answer key for a test or quiz, but he wasn't selling those things; he was selling drugs and he was quite good at it too, but that was partially due to the customer's habit of coming back. Meth was one hell of a drug. No, his number one policy was the accumulation of profits. Profits; that's what's most important. Earning money and keeping it where no one else but he and Specs could get to it. That may have sounded mean, but he always assured himself that it was for the best. Selling drugs was putting him on top of the food chain in there, and that was all that mattered.

Looking around in the dorms, TJ saw that everyone was minding their own business, and no one was rushing up to him to ask him for anything.

'No one's probably gonna ask for more today,' He thought. 'Might as well count how much I made—"

"FRECKLES!" TJ jumped out of his thoughts as his attention was drawn to his and Specs room where another inmate was running out of with a breaker in his hand. "GET THAT SNATCHER! AND KICK HIS ASS!" Realizing that the inmate was stealing, TJ ran up to him before he could get far way. Not giving the thief a chance to stop running he landed a punch on jaw, sending him towards the floor and several of his teeth flying out his mouth. The beaker shattered on the floor and the other inmates ran up to it to grab whatever of the drug they could, but TJ didn't stop them; they weren't his target, and he could make that money back in no time. Bringing his leg back, TJ gave the boy a swift kick to his stomach. Crying out in pain, the boy couldn't do anything as TJ grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled him off the floor.

"You've got ten seconds to explain why you were in MY room, stealing MY stuff," TJ said. "GO!"

"I was going to pay you guys back, I swear!" The boy said in a hurry. "I just need to get my fix and as soon as I got it I would've given you back the money for it and it would've been like I didn't take it at all! I just needed my fix, man! I'm sorry!"

"_Sorry_ isn't gonna make up for the money I lost, now is it?"

"I know it isn't, man! But I just need my fix! Please don't hurt me, man! I'm sorr-," He was cut off by a punch to his face, sending him to the floor again. Stepping over him, TJ headed to his room, but stopped to turn back to the inmate still on the floor.

"The next time you decide to still something of mine, you won't just end up with a few punches and bruises," TJ said to him. "I'm running a business here; I can't have fucking snatchers like you trying to get a free fix. Consider yourself lucky I didn't fuck you up." Walking back to his room, TJ saw the mess the intruder left. Glass from broken beakers was scattered on the floor, as well as the chemicals they held. He was about to go inside until Specs came out and blocked the door.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Specs said. "The fumes in there are really bad and the room needs to air out."

"How long is that going to last?" TJ asked, irritated.

"About an hour," Specs told him. "Then I'll be safe. I can't even clean the mess up right now. I have to wait."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Why do snatchers gotta mess with us? All we're trying to do is make some money, but then they have to come along and steal the stuff we spend time making. I hate that.

All I'm trying to do is run a business, but ican't do that if people are stealing the product. I can't just let them get away with it either; you have to beat them up for them to learn their lesson. They usually do. Usually. One kids kept trying to steal our stuff. He didn't even get out the door before getting caught the last time. He left black and blue, walking with a limp that wasn't supposed to be there. He finally learned after that try, but it shouldn't take them that long. It really shouldn't. How many times do they need to get beat up to learn a lesson?

The money just doesn't go to me and Specs. We set aside money for JoJo and Bandit too; that's what blood brothers do for each other. And when me and Specs get moved over, we'll be able to sell more faster. But it's not just us. We have to buy what it takes to make meth in the first place, and if people keep stealing, we have to drive up prices, and the buyers don't like that. That should be enough to make them stop stealing. But it doesn't and I have to beat them up for it.

Goddamn it.

I hate beating people up when they aren't attacking me. They're so much weaker than I am now. Not only that, but I promised Principal Prickly that I wouldn't do anything bad while I'm in here and I'm beating kids up. I didn't tell him that though. I'm like a son for the guy, and how would he take it if his 'son' was beating inmates up for stealing their drugs. Definitely not going to tell him I sell drugs. It's completely out the question about telling him that I did meth. That would just give him a heart attack, and I can't do that to the guy who visits me on a regular basis and answers my phone calls. I'll tell him one day, when I'm not doing it anymore. That way it won't be so bad. h

How else am I supposed to survive in here? Before I was getting beat up, now I do the beating. I'm finally moving up the food chain. Do I feel bad about it? A little bit, but I have to look out for myself and my brothers.

Sitting down at a nearby table, I was joined by Specs who stayed behind to close the door; the room had a window, so the fumes would go out through there. What am I supposed to do for a full hour? I would read, but my book is in the room. Man, if I wasn't in juvie I could do anything I wanted.

How much time I spend thinking about life outside I can't even measure. But the more time I spend thinking about it, it becomes surreal. Life outside juvie seems strange now. This is home now. All my friends are here. JoJo, Bandit, Specs, they're my friends. No, they're more than friends; they're my _family_. Two things I don't have much of now. I really do want to know why my mom and dad haven't visited, or answered my phone calls. I bet they moved, or changed their phone number. I bet all $57,465 I've made that they did one of those just to avoid talking to me. It's okay though, Principal Prickly hasn't given up on me, and he's more of a parent to me than they are. The only thing keeping me from calling him dad is the fact that I'm so used to calling him my principal.

I wonder what my friends are up to sometimes. Not a lot, but sometimes. Mostly out of curiosity. I don't dwell on it though. It's not worth thinking about. They already told me in a letter that they want nothing to do with me, and that's enough. I don't need to think about them if they're not thinking about me.

* * *

><p><strong>Donna Nnov: …..drugs are bad, m'kay? XD I dunno. It's juvie so the figured there would be drugs somewhere. If you think the <em>drugs<em> were bad, wait until the next chapters ;) Things start to get bad again, starting next chapter. But it'll be good, I promise. **

**Shoutmaster12: Hmm, I gang war huh? That's a good idea. I'll hold on to that. Thanks. :)**

**Reviews Are Great Motivators!**


	26. Boys Don't Cry

**I feel so guilty for making this chapter! :( Just horrible. You'll all see why once you start reading. And this chapter is a little long than I had anticipated, though not as long as he 8,000 word monster I made a while ago.**

**I was able to update the last chapter during the week! Thought I'd just do that for you all. ;) This one came relatively soon too. I'll try and get another chapter up by Sunday, but I'm not sure if I can 'cause there's a lot I want to happen…**

**Hope you all enjoy the chapter more than I did making it.**

**Read on! :D**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_ I fucking hate Disney. All their fucking lies about how like is all about rainbows and sunshine, and how perfect the world is, and that all you need is love to be happy. It's all bullshit! Life isn't like that and I feel stupid for believing it. Life hurts. It hurts worse than sunburn that won't go away! It hurts worse than getting punched right over your heart! It just hurts. And anyone who believes otherwise is a fucking idiot that needs a goddamn reality check._

…_..Sorry. I'm just so angry right now! I can't stand it when people tell me lies and the idea that the world is a happy place is just one of them. It just isn't like that, and it never will be._

**~*~U~*~**

"Specs, I must stay that it's been a pleasure working with you. But alas, I have turned 15 and I must move on to the other dorms for the older inmates."

"…..alas_?_"

Sitting on the bottom bunk and switching the contents inside a beaker in his hand, Specs watched as TJ took his things out of his cabinet and put it in a box along with all his other things. Specs knew this would happen one day. He was the youngest out the group and knew he would be the last one in the younger dorms. Still, that was okay, because in the days leading up to TJ's birthday, he realized that he could still make and sell the drugs behind his dorm and through the slot on the door. But that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. His roommate just said 'alas,' and it disturbed him to say the least.

"….must've picked it up from reading that book JoJo left me," TJ said as put the last of his things inside the box. "It's nothing though."

"Sure it isn't…." Specs mumbled. "Thought you said reading was boring."

"Well yeah it is," TJ said, putting the box on the floor. "But this Edgar Allen Poe guy wrote really good stories. Disturbing, and kind of macabre, but still good stories. Like there's this one about a guy who invited his friend over to his run down mansion and the guy's really fucking crazy. I forgot how it ended, but it was good when I read it."

"I'm not really and English fan," Specs told him. "More of a science man, if you haven't noticed…I didn't take you to be one for English. Philosophy maybe…."

"I'm not a fan of English either," Said TJ. "Just this Poe guy." Getting off of Specs bed, TJ climbed on his bed and pulled out the book from under his pillow. Flipping through the pages he stopped on one he folded the corner of. "Think you can handle everything when I'm gone?"

"I've got it. I'm not weak you know," Specs told him. "You're only a little bit stronger than me. And you already told me how to sell it. Stop worrying."

"Just making sure they don't fuck you up," Said TJ. "Some of those guys out there are fucking addicts and will do anything for a fix."

"I know, I know." Specs said. "Don't worry, I can handle it. If I were you, I'd worry about your hair. You look like a skunk."

"What's wrong with my hair?" TJ asked him, jumping off of the top bunk. Looking in the cracked mirror, he examined the hair on his head. It was still blonde, but since JoJo didn't tell him how to make the solution to bleach his hair it was its normal chestnut color for an inch or two from the root. "I do look like a skunk…..do you have any scissors?" Nodding, Specs pointed to the sink where a pair of scissors were on the edge. Grabbing them, TJ looked at his hair one more time before grabbing a lock and beginning to cut off the bleached blonde. Getting the back was the hardest since he couldn't get a got look, but he managed to get most of the blonde off. TJ ran his fingers through his hair, thinking about how it looked on him.

"I don't like it," TJ mumbled. "I miss the blonde….It doesn't even look good with the scar and my left eye. I'll get it bleached tomorrow when I see JoJo."

**~*~V~*~**  
>With the sun shining through the window, the light woke TJ up earlier than he had planned to. He rolled over in his bed to try and get into a dark place to sleep, but to no avail. The light continued to shine on him, not letting them go back to sleep.<p>

"Is it too much to ask for some curtains?" TJ mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head. "….m'tired…." Yawning, TJ tried to go back to sleep with the covers now over his head. It was hard to breathe, but at least it was dark. Having stayed up until one o'clock reading the book JoJo had given him, he had only gotten about five hours of sleep before the sun rose and woken him up. It was a Sunday too and that made it worse. Throwing the covers off of him, TJ knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep. Stretching, TJ looked at his watch. 6:13. Way too early to be getting up and out of bed. But the sun wasn't going to stop shining anytime soon so he forced himself to get out of bed and to jump down the top bunk onto the cold floor. Now that he was used to the shock of the cold on the bottom of his feet, TJ wasted no time wincing and gathered the last of his things. The book JoJo gave him, the candy he kept in his cabinet, and his journal. Now with everything in his box, all he had to do was wait for one the guards to come and take him over to the older dorms.

He couldn't wait to see the others again. It's been such a long time. How far have they climbed up the social ladder? Did things run differently in there? He couldn't answer those questions until he was over there, but how different could it possibly be?

TJ was excited to see the others after such a long time, but he worried about leaving Specs here by himself. Yeah the guy was relatively strong, but he still had that whole 'geek-ish' appearance to him and the other inmates weren't intimidated by him until they got in a fight with him. But he should be okay for the most part.

"You're up early," Specs mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes the best he could with his goggles on.

"The damn sun woke me up," TJ said. "Why doesn't it wake you up?"

"The light doesn't reach my bed," Specs told him as he rolled over. "It's too low. That's why I let you have the top bunk."

"Jerk," TJ joked. "Thanks for being an asshole."

"You're welcome."

The tumbling of the lock on the door caught TJ's attention. All the doors to the rooms were programmed to open at exactly 7 a.m., but no one was usually standing outside of it. Looking, TJ could see the guard he assumed was supposed to take him over to the older dorms. It just so happened to be the same guard who he regularly sold drugs to. The guy was always accusing TJ of not giving him what he paid for, but he always came back the next time for more so to TJ it didn't matter.

Picking up his box, TJ followed the guard, but not before hearing Specs shout after him.

"Say hi to JoJo and Bandit for me!" Specs yelled. "Don't forget to give them their cut!"

"I know, I know!" TJ yelled back. Following the guard, TJ balanced the box with one hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out a dime bag. He tossed it to the table where his best customer was sitting. He smiled at the confused inmate and continued on his way. He followed the guard down the hall leading to the other dorms, before the guard stopped him.

"I saw you give that kid the dime bag," The guard said to him. "And I know you have more on you."

"So?" TJ snapped at him. "You can't afford it. You haven't been able to buy anything for weeks; you can't by shit so don't even try."

"Yeah okay you little fuck. You have no idea who you're messing with," The guard said continuing his way down the hall. "C'mon." Telling himself that the guards' threat was purely a bluff, TJ pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and kept walking. He knew that this guard, as well as a few others wouldn't do anything to him. If they did, then they couldn't get there fix and they knew they didn't their fix to get through their shifts.

As TJ walked, he could hear something loud. Much louder than the dorms he lived in for the last two years. He thought that the older dorms must be getting close. Stopping in front of the large metal door, TJ waited until the guard unlocked the door to let him in. Once the door was open TJ walked through. The guard didn't follow him in. Instead the guard told him that he's supposed to find his old roommate and shut the door. Shrugging the guard of as only acting like that from being pissed, TJ looked at the inside.

It was huge, much bigger than the other dorm. It had to be at least twice as big. Inside of the blue uniform he was used to seeing everyone wearing, the new color these inmates had on was the classic orange jumper. But even the change of the color jumper everyone had wasn't the most prominent thing TJ noticed. Everyone was divided up into groups—well _gangs_ were more like it since those groups were rather large. Next those gangs all had one thing in common: they were all divided by race.

"It's starting to look like an actual prison," TJ said to himself. "I wonder is JoJo and Bandit—"

"HEY FRECKLES!" A voice yelled out. Turning around, TJ saw JoJo and Bandit waving at him from a dark corner. Happy that the two of them didn't part ways to join the other inmates, TJ walked over carrying his box. "It's 'bout time you came over," JoJo said to him.

"I had to turn 15 eventually," TJ said setting his box on the table where Bandit was sitting. "Now, where am I putting my shit?" Laughing, JoJo pointed to two rooms close to where they were standing.

"Help yourself," JoJo said. "Mines the one on the right, Bandits on the left. We 'bout to go to the commissary, so you movin' yourself in. We be back though." After watching the two of them walk away, TJ picked his box up again and went into JoJo's room. This room was bigger than the one he was used to. Beds were on either side of the room, with a window on the wall between them. A shelf was above each bed.

"That one's JoJo's," TJ said, looking at the shelf with the large amount of books on them. "I can tell." In front of the beds were short walls that gave little privacy for the separate sink and toilet. "At least it's bigger." TJ put his box down on his claimed bed and started to go through his stuff. He only put a few things on his shelf (his Edgar Allen Poe book and his journal) before realized that he should be asking JoJo how things worked here. But still, he choose to stay and put his things away until JoJo came back from the commissary. There was still the issue of him getting a new uniform; he stuck out like a sore thumb because of the blue one he wore. Did they sell them at the commissary or something?

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Turning around, TJ saw a person he hadn't seen since he gave him the scar across his face and made him blind in his left eye. Right in the doorway stood Tommy Gun and his twin minions behind him. Since he hadn't seen them in such a long time, TJ thought he was transferred to another juvie, but now he knew Tommy Gun simply got older and was brought here. "Long time no see."

"What do you want, _Tommy_?" Said TJ, clenching his fists and preparing to fight if need be.

"Nothin'," Tommy Gun said as folded his arms. "Just came ta'say hi to da scrub. Well, you ain't a scrub anymore are ya?"

"No I'm not. Now if you don't mind…" TJ headed for the door to find Bandit and JoJo, but Tommy Gun stood in his way. Resisting the urge to throw a punch like he was used to, he tried talking to get Tommy Gun to move. "Do you mind getting the fuck out of my way?"

"Hold on, I ain't done talkin' to ya'," Said the older boy. He leaned against the door frame with one arm, blocking the exit. "I just wanna talk to ya'."

"About what?" TJ asked. "What's there to talk about with _you?_"

"I see you still got that attitude problem. I thought I fixed that," Said Tommy Gun. "Oh, well. I just gotta fix it again." With a wordless snap of his fingers, Tommy Gun sent his friends inside to pin TJ's arms behind his back.

"So what, are you gonna take my _other _eye?" TJ asked angrily. "That's really uncreative. Can't you come up with anything new?"

"Course I can," Tommy Gun said with a smile. "Didn't think you'd be so eager for it. But if you insist…." With another snap of his fingers, Tommy Gun gave the twin boys another order. TJ felt a kick on the back of both of his knees and lost his balance because of it. Even with his hands forced behind his back, TJ tried to get back to his feet but to no avail. After struggling against the two boys he ended up laying on his back on the floor with his hands pinned above his head. With a growing smile on his face, Tommy Gun stood over TJ, then sat down straddling his hips.

"What the fuck are you doing?" TJ yelled at him as he pulled to get his arms free. "Get off!"

"Now what would I do dat?" Tommy Gun teased. "Why should I listen to some _scrub_?" Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the same pocketknife he used to cut the boy underneath him. Tommy Gun took his time going through all the tools that was in the pocketknife before stopping at the actually knife. Instead of aiming for flesh to cut, he pulled the top of TJ's jumper towards him and started to cut at it, tearing it to shreds. Once the white t-shirt underneath the uniform was exposed, Tommy Gun choose to rip that apart with his hands.

"Get the hell off of me!" TJ screamed at him, not letting the fear that was building up show.

"See, this is your problem," Tommy Gun said leaning over him. "You don't know when to keep your mouth shut." Not giving TJ chance to respond, Tommy Gun slammed his own lips against his. As soon as their lips made contact, TJ tried to get him off but turning his head, but Tommy Gun held him in place with his hands. The twins held his wrists so tight that trying to break free of their grasp was only hurting him. As Tommy Gun pushed his own tongue into his mouth, TJ kicked his legs to try and get Tommy Gun off, but that wasn't working either. Tommy Gun paid no attention to his attempts and slowly moved his hands up and down the younger males chest, taking all the time he wanted to do so. Tommy Gun paused and broke the kiss only to catch his breath. Sitting up, Tommy Gun looked around the room and spoke to his friends.

"One'a you two lock da door," Tommy Gun ordered, placing his hand over TJ's mouth. "Then come back here and put your hand over his mouth! Can't have you attracting attention, can I scrub? Now…:" When the loud bang of the metal door shutting echoes against the wall, Tommy Gun removed his hand, which was quickly replaced by another, and removed his own white t-shirt and orange uniform. Leaning down, Tommy Gun kissed and nibbled at TJ's neck just as the door was being banged on from the outside.

"Looks like your friends are back. You know da thing 'bout these doors," Tommy Gun whispered in his ear. "Is that I can only be unlocked from da inside. Except for the master keyboard, but only da guards know da password for that. This wouldn't be happenin' if you didn't have an attitude problem. You ain't got no one to blame but yourself. But I'm getting distracted…..then again it's not like anyone is going to interrupt us." Sitting up, Tommy Gun relished in the terrified look growing on TJ's face.

Thrashing and kicking as best as he could while being pinned down, TJ tried to figure out some way to get the perverted son of a bitch off of him. It wasn't working, and didn't look like it was going to ever work. He thought it was a joke at first, something just to scare him after not seeing the bully for a considerable amount of time. But then Tommy Gun kissed him, and tore off everything except his boxers. He tried to not give the bully the satisfaction of seeing him scared, but the facade was faltering and fast. It quickly dawned on him that this was no joke, and that Tommy Gun had full intention on raping him.

He could hear yelling coming from just outside the door. TJ could make out that they belonged to JoJo and Bandit who must've been the one's banging on the door too. It didn't stop Tommy Gun from continuing. He turned his head and stared at the wall as the bully massaged his chest; if Tommy Gun wasn't going to get off of him, then at the very least TJ didn't want to look at him while it happened.

Tommy Gun shook and grinded his hips against the younger males, letting a low moan escape from his lips.

"Mmmm…..you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this, scrub," Tommy Gun whispered. Slowly, he dragged his fingers down the younger male's chest only to stop at the hem of his boxers. Gently, he tugged at the waistband, taking his time to taunt the boy under him. Just as TJ felt Tommy Gun begin to pull off the only remaining clothing he had, he felt the weight of the bully being lifted off of him as well as the hands pinning his arms and covering his mouth. Now that he was able to move, TJ sat up and saw that JoJo and Bandit had managed to open the door and was now unleashing wrath upon Tommy Gun and his minions.

"You alright, Freckles?" Bandit asked him, reaching out a hand to help him off the floor.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay," TJ said, getting onto his feet. He watched as the twins ran out of the room and saw JoJo drag Tommy Gun to somewhere else outside. "Do you know where I can get some clothes?"

"Clothes? They have uniforms at the commissary," Bandit told him. "They have all your uniforms and school books and stuff."

"….oh. You don't think anyone will mind if I got out there like this will they?"

"Probably." Nodding, TJ pulled on one of his old uniforms form his box and quickly put it on. The legs and arms were a little short and it didn't fit quite right, but it was enough until he got his new uniform. Stepping outside the room he headed toward the commissary, but overheard JoJo talking nearby. Hiding behind a pillar he looked over to see who hi_s _friend was talking to. It was Tommy Gun, and from the expression on his face, it looked like the conversation was getting heated. TJ couldn't hear everything that was being said, but he could make out a few things.

"The fuck was _that_?" He heard JoJo yell. "Do you rape **all **the inmates coming in here?"

"Not all of 'em," Tommy Gun answered. "Just the really cute ones. You're lucky you even managed to get in when you did. If ya didn't, he'd be workin' for me and makin' my money. But there's plenty of time for that….."

"He's not gonna work for you," JoJo told him. "He's not gonna work for anyone. You betta get that idea outta your head!"

"Of course he's gonna work for me. He's gonna work for me, and he's gonna like it."

'What does he mean by 'working'?' TJ asked himself. Choosing not to think about it, or Tommy Gun for that matter, he headed towards the commissary to pick up a few things.

**~*~V~*~**

"Yeah this place has this whole racial divide thing goin' on. It's not like they're fightin' or nothin', they mostly stay outta each others way. But it's still there."

"Is there any reason why?" TJ asked after listening to JoJo explained the divide he saw after coming in.

"I dunno. It was like this when we came in here," JoJo told him. "They even tried to get me and Bandit to join the gangs with our own race, but we wasn't goin' out like that. They think we're crazy, and they gonna think you crazy too. But they don't botha us much anymore." Looking around, TJ listened to what JoJo was telling him. He listened for the last hour and learned about how things worked. Besides the divide in the inmate population, drug selling was rampant, so he made a mental note to tell Specs that as soon as he came in. There was also some sort of code the inmates were using with bandanas, but his friends didn't know what they could stand for.

Reaching into his pockets, TJ gave them their share of the money from the younger dorms. Seeing the large amount of money made the two boys want to get into the business right away, but they knew they had to wait. As he looked around, he spotted Tommy Gun across the area, leaning against a pillar. The bully spotted him looking and sent a kiss and wink his way before walking away.

'Ugh. What's that guys problem?'

"DETWEILER!" Sighing, TJ looked around for who the guard who was calling him. Only the guards called inmates by their last name, and the only guards in this dorm was standing by the door.

"You gotta go get a new picture taken," Bandit told him. "'Cause you're older now."

After walking over to the guards that called him, TJ was lead down the usual hallway and into the room he was last in when he first arrived at juvie. The room was still as dank as he remembered it. The lights still flickered on and off on their off, and paint was peeling off the walls. However, sitting at the desk was the same guard that led him to the older dorms and he (used to) sell drugs to.

"Aren't you usually in the younger dorms?" TJ asked.

"That's none of your business, kid," The guard shot back at him. "Put your hands against the wall. You know how this works…."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" TJ mumbled. We swore that his guard was following him all because he wouldn't hand over anymore drugs. Even if he wanted to (and he didn't), there wasn't any way TJ could get him any drugs. But this guy was being an asshole for not accepting that fact. Placing his hands on the wall next to the door, TJ waited for the guard to check him for any weapons. He knew this particular guard would check for drugs, so he kept those in his room. He guard eventually came over and searched him for anything that he shouldn't have. TJ was used to those searches; every time they had to get their rooms checked the guards patted them to make sure they weren't hiding anything on them. He waited for the guard to finish, but it seemed to last longer than it should. Just as he was about to speak up, he was pushed against the wall and couldn't pushed himself off. The guard behind him continued to run his hands up and down, searching.

"Is there any reason why I need to be pressed against the wall?" TJ snapped at the guard as he tried to push himself from against the wall. The answer to his question was given by the guard reaching his hands around and unbuttoning his jumper, letting it fall to his ankles and pulling his t-shirt off. It was all too familiar to TJ, and just like before, he tried to get from under him. Unfortunately, just like before it wasn't working, and the guard did as he pleased.

The guard didn't say a word as a sharp pain shot through TJ's spine, through his back, and the rest of his body. He was lifted off the ground by the guard who had one around wrapped around his waist and the other against his back, pushing him against the wall. Closing his eyes, TJ winced in pain and waited for it all to be over.

After what seemed to be forever, TJ fell to the floor as the guard walked away and sat back at his desk as if nothing happened. With pain still shooting through his back, TJ was too stunned to move. Gripping his orange jumper, TJ sent a hate filled glare at the man sitting at the desk.

"Get up," Said the guard. "Put your clothes on. You still have to take your picture." Grudgingly, TJ did as the guard told him. The picture was taken, and he was told to go back to the dorms, but just before he left the guard spoke up. "This is what happens when you don't know your place. Don't even try reporting this; it won't get past this building."

**~*~V~*~**

"You sure you're a'ight Freckles?" JoJo asked, looking up from his book. "Tommy ain't scare ya, did he?"

"Huh? Oh, no; he didn't scare, me," TJ answered. "And I'm okay. Really, I am. Stop worrying." Laying in his bed, TJ thought about the question JoJo answered. He didn't lie, at least not exactly. What Tommy did wasn't bothering him at the moment. He didn't get that far, and he wasn't making any advances right now. Then again, TJ was comparing what Tommy Gun did to what the guard did. Compared to the guard, Tommy Gun was harmless. The guard pinned him against the wall and did what Tommy Gun wanted to do, but failed. He tried to not let it get to him, after it was over but he was sure that could only work up to a certain point. He wasn't going to tell JoJo or Bandit about it. What could they do? They weren't around when it happened, not that he was blaming them. He assured himself that the guard was just crazy and that if he just stayed away from him everything would just be fine.

Rolling over in his bed, TJ wondered if reporting the incident would do any good. The guards did a lot of things that they shouldn't do and got away with it. They abused the inmates in the white rooms and didn't get in trouble for it, so how could this be any different?

'This had to have happened to others. What are the chances he only did it to me?,' TJ thought. 'But he's still here, so he didn't get in trouble for it.'

"Hey JoJo," TJ spoke up. "Do you know any good stories to read when you don't feel like you belong where you are?"

"Not any books or nothin'," JoJo told him. "But there's a story in your book called _The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether_. It's good for that kind of thing." Reaching over his shelf above his bed, TJ pulled his leather-bound book and found the story JoJo recommended. He needed _something_ to clear his head. Thinking about what happened made him want to curl into a ball.

"You sure you're okay, Freckles?" JoJo asked him. "You're kinda quiet over there."

"…..I'm _fine_ JoJo," TJ insisted. "I really am. But thanks for the concern."

After an hour or two, the dorms were locked down and everyone was in their respective rooms. Laying down TJ pulled the covers over himself and put his book back on the shelf. Once JoJo turned the lights off, he was left with his thoughts again.

Was it even possible to avoid Tommy Gun for the rest of his sentence? It didn't look like it. Every time he made eye contact with his assailant, be it accidently or out of trying to avoid him, the bully either sent him a kiss or gave a wink. Just from that, TJ could tell Tommy Gun had the full intention of doing it again and succeeding. But he wouldn't dare try and attack when he was around JoJo and Bandit.

'All I gotta do is say close to them,' He thought. 'If I do that, he won't try anything. Yeah, sounds like a plan…"

**~*~V~*~**

Walking down the hall to the visitors room, TJ yawned. He didn't get much sleep light night due to him seeing either Tommy Gun or the guard whenever he drifted off to sleep. Each time he woke up with his heart pounding out of his chest and gasping for air. He did manage to get back to sleep, but he woke up an hour later for the same reason over and over again. Something like that would upset JoJo on most occasions because he didn't like being woken up, but for this time JoJo understood. Once it was time to wake up, TJ looked at his reflection in the mirror. He missed the blonde hair and asked JoJo bleach it again, but it had to wait until his roommate could get the things he needed. The scar over his eye was more prominent with his natural hair color, and TJ didn't like it. At least when he was blonde in sort of matched. The cloudiness in his left eye stuck out more as well, and he wanted to cover it up until he could get his hair bleached, so he found the eye patch he received from the hospital after he was blinded at put it on. It wasn't much, but it was enough for now.

Approaching the visitor's room, TJ wondered who could be here to see him. Principal Prickly visited twice a month and he already came a week ago so that was out. His parent's maybe? Nah, he hadn't seen his parents in two years. Why would they show up all of a sudden?

Reaching the visitor's room, TJ saw one of the last people he expected to come and see him. He never thought he would get visited by _him_. Just from the outside Duval looked threatening and scare away anyone who was faint of heart. Resisting the urge to walk back and wait until it was time to go back into the dorms, TJ sat down at the table across from his visitor.

"What the hell are you doing here, Mikey?" TJ asked right after he sat down.

"I came to see you, TJ," Mikey told him. "It's been two years and no one's heard anything from you."

"Why would you all _want_ to hear anything from me?" TJ shot back. "You all told me you didn't want anything to do with me when I wrote you all that letter. I got the message."

"…I didn't help write that letter," Said Mikey. "I didn't want to. I tried to convience them to just not write back because what they wanted to write was just mean but they did it anyway."

"Like that makes a difference," TJ mumbled. "Do they know you're here?"

"No," Mikey said. "They don't know. I wasn't even planning to coming here today, but the theatre club is on a trip to a see a play in the nearby town and we passed here on our way. I took the bus here."

"Why?" TJ snapped. "Why would you want to see me now? What are you after?"

"Because I'm worried about you. As bad as you were acting before, he kid in here could be worse. But I was always sure that you would make friends in here and do your best to have fun until your sentence was over."

"Fun? You think I'm having _**fun?**_ Why the fuck would you think I'm having fun? You have no idea what it's like in here! You don't know that I've been through and what I've seen in the last two years, and you have the nerve to suggest I'm having _**fun**_! I would just love to know what your idea of _**fun**_ is if you think I'm having fun in here! It is not fun in here! It's not fun being in the same place, doing the same thing, but still not knowing what it's going to be like tomorrow! It's not fun being thought of as a monster by the entire population outside of here! And it's not fun having to fight for your life each and every _fucking_ day! What, did you think it's like all those musicals and movies and cartoons make it out to be? Did you think everyone's smiling and having the time of their life back there? It's nothing like that! It'll never be like that, and you're a fucking idiot for thinking that it was! It's not like that in here and it's not like that anywhere! Why the hell do you insist on looking for the bright side of everything when it's not there? You better get the idea that the worlds happy and all you need is love to survive! It's bullshit here, and it's bullshit everywhere else! You're only fooling yourself if you think that worlds all full of sunshine and rainbows and milk and honey! It must be nice to live under that illusion and deny what's in front of you! I wish I could deny that how bad everything is! I wish I could get up from this table and walk out of here and go and live a normal life without fearing everyone except four people! Don't you **ever **suggest that it's fun in here!" With hot tears streaming down his face and balling his hands into tight fists, TJ stared at the table, refusing to make eye contact. He completely lost it at the mention of fun. How dare anyone even begin to think he was having fun? Losing his eye wasn't fun. Seeing kids kill themselves wasn't fun. Falling in love with someone and seeing them commit suicide right in front of him wasn't fun. And almost getting raped once, then actually getting raped sure as hell wasn't fun. But he wasn't planning on telling anyone about what the guard did. At least not yet.

"What happened?" Mikey asked him, taken back by TJ sudden outburst.

"Nothing," TJ told him. "Just drop it."

"But TJ—"

"I said, drop it!" TJ yelled at him. "Don't you tell anyone what it said."

"I wasn't planning to—"

"Good. And you could just pretend this whole conversation didn't happen." Getting up from the table, TJ got in the growing line of inmates waiting to go back in. Wiping the tears away from his eyes he stared at the floor, trying to gain control of his emotions.

**~*~TJ POV~*~**  
>What's everyone here got against me?<p>

I would've rather had Tommy Gun beat the shit out me yesterday. What's his problem? Why can't he go bother some other inmate and leave me alone? I didn't do shit to him, but now the freak is hitting on me every time he gets. He keeps trying to get me to work for him. What's he mean by 'working' for him? Whatever it is, I'm not doing it.

And that guard shouldn't be on drugs in the first place, so he should be taking his anger out on me just cause he can't get his fix. Not my fault he's a fucking addict. He just better stay any from me; I'm carrying my knife with me everywhere I go from now on.

…..but why's Tommy hitting on me all of a sudden? After coming back from the visitor's room he found me and started hitting on me right away. His little minions weren't anywhere though; I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't up to something.

Now, he's more of a nuisance, but it's one I would like to get rid of.

Why'd Mikey have to visit and make me so angry? Everything was just fine until he came. Now every time I was alone and thought about what happened with Tommy and the guard I start to cry even when I try not to. I hate it. The guard hasn't tried anything though. Guess that's a plus. I haven't written as much in my journal up to this point until now. It helps though. JoJo and Bandit help to, and I appreciate it. But I'm still angry, so I'm about to go punch his punching bag hanging in nearby our table.

* * *

><p>…<strong>.I want to write an Arthur and Recess crossover someday. But I think the kids in Arthur are too goody-goody compared to the Recess kids. That and they're animals…what do you guys think?<strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: Too soon to tell! I don't want to spoil it, but a student (or two) will get put into juvie in the near future. I'm just not telling who it is. **

**Donna Nnov:…..I was going to answer your question about Tommy Gun but I think I already did in the chapter. ;) Yeah the guards are really bad; if they were good, then that wouldn't be any fun. Especially in this chapter, but it'll be alright. Just wait and see.**

**Please Review!**


	27. The Worlds Oldest Profession

**Over 100,000 words! Whoo!**

**Hope the last chapter wasn't too much for you all. It actually serves a purpose, so there's that. I promise it's important, just wait.**

**Has anyone heard of these theories floating around the internet about the supposedly 'true' plot behind a few cartoons. Those things creep me out and successfully ruined the Rugrats, Ed Edd and Eddy, and a few others for me. Ugh. But luckily there doesn't seem to be one about Recess, so yay! But I want to make one...hmm..**

**Go Forth and Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~TJ's POV~*~<strong>

I would like someone to explain to me why they can afford to have a fully stocked library, but give us crap to eat every day. It's not some dinky library like in some poor neighborhood school; it has really good, high quality books. New too, barely touched. I wouldn't even know about it if it wasn't for my teacher. Our first assignment is to write a book report and I have to find a book. The one book I have won't due; it has to be a multi-chapter piece of fiction. I wish I could do it on that book though.

The teachers for the high school in here are tougher than the last few teachers I had. They give actual work so you have to pay attention in class and do _real_ homework. The weird thing is, I like it. After doing work that was way below my grade level, it's kind of refreshing.

I must be crazy for saying that.

Me and Bandit are looking through the library during study hall. JoJo already has a bunch of books of his own and doesn't need to look for one. I'm in the T section now. Nothing looks interesting enough to hold my attention for writing a book report about. I'm looking for something like what Edgar Allen Poe writes, but I'm not having any luck. Bandit's not having any luck either. He said he rather write a report examining the meaning of a song. I don't blame him.

"Hey dude, study hall's almost over," I heard Bandit call from a few rows away. "Hurry up and pick a book. We gotta go!"

"How'd you find a book?" I asked him.

"I didn't. I'm just picking any five that have a good lookin' cover and going with one of them," Said Bandit. "I'm heading to class. What about you?"

"Hold on, I'm coming," I told him. Not looking, I grabbed three books off the shelf and followed Bandit out the library. We had math next. Algebra. It's easy though. The teacher doesn't go any farther if everyone doesn't understand what we're doing. I understand it though. It's not as hard as they make it out to be on TV. It's my favorite subject, too. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the teacher, Ms. Young, gives us assigned seats. I sit two seats next to JoJo and right behind Bandit, but Tommy Gun is right behind me. Why is he even in this class? Must've failed the entrance exam.

Before you get your classes, everyone has to take an exam to separate the dumb-fucks from the smartasses. Tommy Gun's a dumb-fuck if he's in the same class as me; not surprising. I'm right where I need to be, but JoJo and Bandit are a year behind. Most kids are in remedial classes, but what do they expect if they don't teach us anything in middle school?

I hate sitting in front of Tommy. He's always poking me and pinching me and rubbing my shoulders. I keep telling him to stop, so do JoJo and Bandit, but he keeps doing it. He doesn't do anything like the first time though; he's just keeps hitting on me. Sitting down at my desk I see that the hasn't come in yet. I hoping that he's sick and I'll get some peace today.

Nope. There he is walking in, smiling at me and sending me kisses. Disgusting. Why is he doing this after beating me up and blinding me when I first came here? I'd rather have that, 'cause when I fight back in class, I get in trouble. At least then it would be self-defense, but that was only a problem in class. In the dorms, I punch him. He still keeps coming though.

It doesn't even take long after he sits down for him to start.

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

Looking up at the clock TJ saw that there was still two minutes before class started. The teacher wasn't there, she always showed up exactly when class started. Clenching a fist, he sent a death glare to Tommy Gun as he made his way to his seat. TJ was trying to think of some way to get the bully off his back, but nothing was working so far. Sighing, he remembered that class was only 50 minutes long, much shorter than the other classes.

Just as he was closing his eyes, TJ almost jumped out his seat from the touch of Tommy Gun's cold hands making contact with his arms.

"Do you mind not being an asshole today?" TJ asked, turning around to face him. The only answer he received was a cheeky smile from the bully. "Freak." Turing around in his seat, he knew that this was only the beginning of it all. As class started, Tommy Gun began by pulling TJ's hair to get his attention. TJ decided to try and ignore him, not wanting to give Tommy Gun the satisfaction of knowing that he was bothering him. That didn't last long once the bully began to rub his shoulders.

"What is your problem?" TJ asked, turning to face him.

"Nothin'," Tommy Gun told him. "I ain't gotta problem."

"Then why do you keep bothering me? Can't you bother someone else?"

"No 'cause I like botherin' you."

"Ugh." Sighing in exasperation TJ reluctantly turned around and faced the front of the class. There wasn't anything that he could do to stop Tommy Gun from bothering and picking on him, at least not while they were in class. Until class was over he was stuck dealing with the bully pulling his hair, poking him with a pencil, flicking his ear, and just being an overall nuisance. If TJ didn't know any better, he would've sworn Tommy was acting like some little kid who had a crush on one of their classmates. But that was ridiculous. Tommy Gun having a _crush_ on _him_. NO. FUCKING. WAY.

"Why you gotta play hard to get," Tommy Gun whispered in his ear. "Stop puttin' up a front and come work for me."

"I'm not working for you!" TJ snapped at him. "I don't even know what you're taking about, but whatever it is, I'm not doing it!"

"Stop playin' dumb," Said the bully as he rubbed TJ's arms. "You know exactly what I'm talkin' about."

"No I don't," TJ told him. Pulling his arm out of Tommy's grasp, he locked at the clock. Luckily there was only a few more minutes left in class to deal with the person sitting behind him.

"Course you do," Tommy Gun said, leaning forward. "You got know what I'm talkin' about. How do you get this far in juvie and not know what I'm talkin' about?" The bell signaling the end of class rang, and TJ shot out of seat and faced Tommy Gun.

"Leave me alone," He told the bully. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about so go find someone who does and pick on them! Shit!" Walking away, TJ followed JoJo and Bandit out the door heading to lunch. He just wanted to get as far away from the bully as possible.

**~*~U~*~**

"Do you understand this shit?"

"No I don't understand it. It's bullshit. How are they expecting us to understand this when they didn't teach us anything last year? Fuck Pythagorean and his theorem! Do understand this, Freckles?"

"Huh?" TJ said, turning to them after looking out for any sign of Tommy Gun. "Oh, I already did all my math homework after lunch."

"So you get it then?" JoJo asked him.

"Pretty much."

After school was over, the three boys made a habit of getting their homework done and out of the way so they could do things that were really important. Unlike the middle school the high school actually took their grades seriously. So serious in fact that as an incentive to get the inmates to do better they considered their grades when the inmates applied for probation. If they did well enough even for a short period of tie then they could get two to five days of 'recess' where they were allowed to go home, but come back after their days were up, which is why JoJo and Bandit gave a damn about their grades. Meanwhile, TJ still didn't care as long as his grades were a solid 'C'. it kept him out of academic probation and the teachers off of his back. He didn't care about Third Street, so working to get out for a few days wasn't something he wanted to work on. You had to get all A's for a semester to be considered for probation, and he kept everything under an A. C's are good enough. Average. He didn't want to miss anything happening in here.

"They give you what A and B equals so you just square it and add the sums," TJ instructed his friends. "And that's what C squared equals. But you still have to find the square root of that number and that's the answer. You're making it harder than it has to be."

"If you end up find the square root at the end then why squaring the A and the B in the first place?" Bandit asked him. "Why don't they just save us the trouble and make it simple?"

"I dunno, they just make it that way," TJ told him. "I wouldn't really argue with it. Math is one of those things where it is what it is and you can't change shit about it."

"Fuckin' hate math," JoJo mumbled, working on his homework. "That and this homework!" JoJo slammed his book shut and headed towards his room. "I'ma work on my book report."

"Yeah me too," Said Bandit. "it's due at the end of the week and I haven't even started yet."

"Guess I should to," TJ said, looking through his backpack. "I'm not doing anything." While the ohers had gone to their rooms to get the bokks they needed, TJ looked through the three books he had picked up from the library. Until now he didn't get a chance to look at the title, so he had no idea what he was going to be reading.

"_The Thief,_" He read, looking at the title of the first book. "Sound's cheesy. What's the next one…." Setting the first book aside, TJ looked at the next one. "_I Am Legend._ Well, someone didn't put this where it belongs. Goes with the I's. Damn morons. How about the last one. Let's see…_The Torah_. Can't read that; I need a piece of fiction, not a religious book." As he put the last book in his backpack, TJ made a mental note to stop by the library and drop the last book off. Soon Bandit and JoJo returned with their own books and started to flip through the pages. Looking at the two books in front of him, TJ finally decided on reading _I Am Legend _simply because the cover looked interesting. Just he was about to flip through the pages, inmate ran past them and into the rooms on the left side of the dorms.

"What they doing?" Bandit asked.

"I dunno. Let's go see," JoJo said. The three of them got out of their seats and went into JoJo and TJ's room. Squeezing together, they all looked through the window. To their surprise, they had a clear view of the girls building and could see through their window. Not only that, but it was obvious that the girls in there knew that they could be seen and were blowing kisses and taking their clothes off. The loud hoots and banging against the wall by the other inmates were heard in the room.

It was in that moment that TJ realized something.

'I haven't seen a _girl_ in two and a half years,' TJ thought to himself. 'GOD. DAMN.' While the blood in his body rushed toward the south, there was still enough in his brain to comprehend a few things. One, the last time he had seen a member of the opposite sex, they were not as curvy as he was witnessing them to be at this moment. Two, they looked damn good like that. Three, he wanted them to hurry the fuck up and take their clothes off. And four, he desperately wanted to over there touching them. Soon he was reduced to drooling like the two others next to him.

"As much as you guys are my brothers, I must ask you two to please exit the room," JoJo said to the others. "I need some private time."

"For what?" Asked Bandit, not looking away from the window.

"To make love to my hand, that's what," JoJo snapped. "So if you don't mind, please get the fuck out. You too Freckles."

"O-oh," TJ said, looking between JoJo and the window. "But I already sort of…you know….._started_. It's my room too."

"And my room is full of people trying to get a view," Bandit said. "They all are probably doing this in groups anyways. Lemme stay in here."

"Fine," JoJo told him. "But don't touch me. I'm performing an art here. Don't talk either."

"Okay, we get it!" TJ yelled at him. "Stop talking so we can ignore each other and get this over with! I'm getting a case of blue ball over here!"

"I'm just tryin' to make sure you two know the rules," JoJo said, sitting on his bed while looking out the window. "Bandit, close the door. Freckles, start passin' around the Vaseline. And don't either of you say a goddamn word during this."

**~*~U~*~**

"Tommy Gun still botherin' you, Freckles?"

"Not since class. He's up to something, though; I just know it."

Once the hype from seeing the opposite gender had died down after a few hours, the inmates had left the rooms and went back to their daily lives, sad that the show was over. With nothing left to do, the three boys settled on trying to gain enough motivation to read the book they had to do a report on. Their attempts kept getting interrupted by conversations that they each took turns starting. But they were trying to focus on the book they each held in front of them, and it almost worked well enough for them to hyperfocus until an inmate came up to them and tapped JoJo on the shoulder.

"The fuck," JoJo said, frustrated from being distracted. "What do you want?"

"How much?" The inmate asked him.

"How much for what?"

"For him," The inmate said, pointing to TJ. "How much?"

"I'm not for sale!" TJ yelled at him. "What the hell do you think this is?"

"…You heard him," JoJo calmly told the inmate. "Shoo." With his head hung low, the inmate walked away, leaving behind JoJo unfazed, TJ angered, and Bandit caring more about his book than what had just happened.

"What was that guy's problem?" TJ asked, finding where he left of in his book.

"You don't know?" JoJo said. "If you don't know then I don't think you wanna know."

"So you know more then you're letting on," Said TJ. "Tell me!"

"You don't wanna know Freckles," JoJo said, dismissing his request. "Trust me."

"Do you know, Bandit?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I know," Bandit said, not taking his eyes off the page. "I know."

"So why won't you two tell me what everyone is talking about?" TJ asked as he was angry at his friends. "I thought we were supposed to be looking out for each other, not hiding secrets!"

"Freckles, calm down; we are lookin' out for you," JoJo told him. "Part of that means not tellin' you somethin' for your own good."

"Whatever," TJ mumbled, standing up from the table. "I think it's bullshit. We aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other. I'm too mad to even read because of all this! I'm taking a shower and going to be. Fuck this."

**~*~TJ"S POV~*~**

What kind of friends keep secrets from each other? They better have a hell of a good reason for not telling me. It better not be something small either.

I just had to get away from them for a while to clear my mind after that conversation. It just made me mad that they wouldn't tell me. So I decided to take a bath. Luck for me, no one else was taking a bath so I got the showers all to myself. The endless hot water was never as useful as it is now.

I haven't seen Tommy Gun since class. I want to think that he finally got the message and decided to stop bothering me, but I knew better. He's probably huddled in a corner somewhere coming up with a plan for tomorrow. Creep. Is it too much to ask to not be touched? I thought he hated me. He still does, I bet. He's just doing this to get inside my head. Yeah, that's it. And I'm not going to let him win. The bastard already took my eye; what more could he possibly want?

Washing my hair, I'm happy to have back the blonde color I had before. I don't know why, but I like it more than the brown. It goes with my scar and my left eye. Maybe it's because I got them both while I was in here. That's probably it. I wonder what my parents would think of it. Wait, why do I care what _they_ think?

Just as I was about to Rises the shampoo out of my hair I felt something grabbing my sides. Who the hell—

"Why you still playin' hard to get?" I heard the smug smiling, creepy looking freak whisper in my ear. Of course it would be him. Who else would it be? "Stop playin' and come work for me. I know you wanna…."

"Get off!" I said, elbowing him in the chest. Once his hands were off of me I faced him. "I'm trying to take a shower if you don't mind!" God, this guy was naked. I wasn't trying to get in a fight with another naked dude, especially _him_. If he got me on the ground it would be all too easy for him to pin me down and do what he wanted. I wasn't going to let that happen. I went back to rinsing my hair, but within seconds he had his hands on my shoulder and started massaging them. Should've expected that. I can't take my eyes off him for a second 'cause he'll just keep doing something when I'm not looking.

"What it your problem?" I yelled at him, pulling myself out of his grasp. "Why are you so damn focused on me?"

"'Cause you're cute," Tommy Gun said. "The cute one's always make the most money. Come work for me and stop actin' like you don't want to. You'll enjoy it."

"I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah you do," He insisted. "You just playin' dumb 'cause you think that'll make me leave you alone." He put on hand on my chest and pushed me against the wall with strength he didn't look life he even had. If I had a knife I'd stab this asshole. Right in the dick. He lifted his free hand up and ran his fingers through my hair. "Well it ain't gonna work. What are you afraid of?" The steam in here must be making me dizzy because everything is starting to spin, and Tommy Gun didn't push me hard enough to bang my head against the wall. So I closed my eyes to stop the dizziness, or at least pause it for a moment, but eight after that I was pushing him off on me and onto the floor.

I was about to open my eyes and attack, but I felt a soft and wet pair of lips press against mine and his hand in my hair making a fist, tugging. I tried to push him off of me, but he used his body weight to keep me pressed against the wall. Then the asshole had the nerve to press his tongue in my mouth. I punched him in the chest, but that didn't make him budge at all. But I kept punching and kept punching, but my strength couldn't last forever and I became tired and resorted to pushing, but that weakened too.

Damn this guy was a good kisser.

My hands slid down from where they were pushing on chest and my arms hung down at my sides. Any strength I had left was now gone. I felt like I was melting from the steam and the heat radiating off of Tommy's body. I hate him. I fucking hate him. But DAMN, he knows how to kiss….

He's enjoying this, I just know it. Still, I can't let this go any further; he'll never let me live it down. But…it feels so _good._ Fuck….I need to get him off….

With a burst of energy I lifted my back off the wall and pushed Tommy Gun off of my and he landed on the floor. Without saying a word, I stepped over him and grabbed my towel off the hook on the opposite wall and wrapped it around my waist before walking out of the showers. That guy definitely has a thing for me, and I don't want it.

After I got dressed, I lay in my bed and tried to go to sleep. It was getting late, and inmates were usually going into their rooms or the shower, so it's quiet. JoJo still wasn't in the room, so I got a little privacy. Even when I closed my eyes, I couldn't get what happened in the showers off my mind long enough to drift off to sleep. I feel guilty. I hate him so fucking much, but it felt so damn _good_. His fingers in my hair, his lips against mine, and his body pressed against mine. If it was** anyone **else I know this wouldn't even a problem. But it just had to be him. And it's not _him_ himself, it's just that it felt so good and it came from him. I need to get him out of my head…..where'd I put that dime bag? On the shelf. Reaching up, I grabbed the small plastic bag and pipe. In seconds I had everything together and used a lighter to melt the crystals. Pressing the pipe against my lips I took a long, deep breath. In second I felt ecstasy and my problems melted away.

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: See here's the thing. I was actually debating whether or not to have that happen because I already wrote it before. I decide to put it in because that sort of thing does happen in juvie, not just prison. It's sickening though because the inmates don't just do it to one another, the faulty does it to them too. I'm just trying to get every part of juvie there is. But we're just at the tip of the iceberg. And this story is going to border the M-rating for a while, though I'll try and keep it in the T rating.<strong>

**RandallXSpinelli: I can definitely tell you that it won't be Mikey. ;) the guy is too nice. But this won't happen for a while. At least four chapters after this one. The next two chapters are going to be really exciting.**

**Please Review!**


	28. PlayDude Puppy

**Spring break is one week away! To say I'm excited is an understatement. I can't wait so I can u[date more often for at least a week while I'm out of school. Hopefully my professors won't give me any work to do over the break. Hopefully. I wasn't that lucky last year during thanksgiving break…**

**Anyways**

**Read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Tommy Gun leaves me alone now. He still bugs me, but he only sends me looks across the hall and blows kisses, and winks at me. He doesn't touch me or anything. All I have to is ignore him and everything should be alright. I hope. I don't want what happened in the shower to ever happen again. I don't what'll happen. _

_I woke up last after dreaming about Tommy. We were in the shower, just like last time, but it went further. I woke up in a cold sweat with my heart pounding and a tent in my sheets. I took care of that though. _

_JoJo and Bandit have their lips shut tight and won't tell me anything about what's going on. I want to let that go, but I need to know what's going to on get anywhere. I need to find a way to climb the food chain; I'm not going to a chump like in the younger dorms. Well, I wasn't really a chump since I was running things like a boss, but it took me long enough to get there. I feel dumb for not having a clue to anything in here. So guys are wearing these different color gel bracelets. They look like they're for girls, but I guess I don't have any right to complain when I'm wearing girl's shoes. They're comfortable though. _

_But why do some guys wear those things and others don't? I feel like that's important. I should try to find that out. JoJo and Bandit probably know, but they're being asses and not telling me anything. That's okay though, I'll figure it out myself._

**~*~U~*~**

Sitting in class, TJ doodle on the sheet of paper in front of him. Math class was boring now that he could understand it. He could finish the homework well before the class was over, and spent most of his time pouring his mind out on a piece of paper in the form of doodles that had no real meaning. Every now and then when the teacher actually did something that he didn't understand he would pay attention but for the most part his mind was in the clouds. Being towards the back of the class, the teacher didn't notice him not paying attention and he was happy for that. He didn't want to be noticed when class was going on. TJ did love it when the teacher caught him daydreaming and asked if he knew what was going on. He always knew what the teacher was teaching and told her the answer to her questions with a a smug look on his face. Taken back, the teach gave him a glare and went back to teaching.

'Hater,' TJ always thought when that happened. 'Haters gonna hate.'

Sighing, TJ leaned back in his seat without worry that Tommy Gun would bother him. After the shower, Tommy Gun didn't pick on him as much and TJ wasn't going to question it. He was just happy for the peace. Getting back to his sketch, an unmarked folded piece of paper landed on his desk. He turned in his desk and faced Tommy who was already giving him a cheeky smile and wink. TJ turned back in his seat and unenthusiastically unfolded the letter and began to read.

_I know you wanted more to happen in the shower. You know what I'm talkin' about, don't play dumb. Come be my puppy and it can happen each and every day._

_-TG_

'Why does he have to bring that up?' TJ thought to himself. 'I almost forgot about it now…..'

Picking up his pencil, TJ started to write a response, but paused. Why should he write anything back? That's what Tommy Gun _wants_ him to do. He would just be adding fuel to the fire and making things worse. So instead of giving the son of a bitch the satisfaction, TJ crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it on the floor. Soon after he had disposed of the note, another landed on his desk.

'I swear to God,' TJ thought while rubbing his forehead. 'This guy is giving me a headache. Why can't he just go away? He's not going to stop until I answer him back….' Reluctantly TJ opened the note and found it that is said the same thing as the last note. Scribbling down a few words, TJ tossed it behind him and hoped that it would be enough to get the bully to leave him alone for the rest of the class. After ten minutes of no interruptions, TJ thought that it had worked and that Tommy Gun had gotten the message, only to be proven wrong twenty minutes before class was over. Yet another note landed on his desk.

_I like the blonde hair. It looks better than the brown. Hope you plannin' on keepin' it 'cause your customers are gonna like it too._

"What part of 'I don't know what you're talking about' don't you get?" TJ said, facing the boy behind him. "Get that through your thick skull!"

**~*~V~*~**

Coming inside after recess, TJ headed towards the commissary. Even after lunch, he was still starving and the only answer to his hunger was a big bag of potato chips. There weren't many people inside yet; most of the inmates were still outside ogling what they managed to see from the girls dorm. Only a few choose to go inside and get out of the sun, and TJ was taking advantage of this by being one of the first people in line; there were only three people in front of him already. Bored, TJ watched the three inmates in front of him. The two ni front were buying more of those thin gel bracelets he's been seeing some inmates wear.

'What's the big deal about those stupid things?' He asked himself. 'They look like they're for girls anyways…..' After reaching the front of the line and buying everything he needed, TJ waited for JoJo and Bandit to come in. As much as he hated that they refused to tell him what he wanted to know, he knew they were his only source of information at this point. But he wanted to know what was so important that they couldn't tell him what it was and why. It made him angry too; to him it was like they were breaking the rules. The whole point of being blood brothers was to look out for each other, so wasn't keeping secrets against the whole point?

"Damn Freckles. Keep grabbin' the bag like that an there ain't gonna be any chips left," JoJo said, taking a few chips out of the bag TJ was holding and sitting down next to him. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem, TJ told him, keeping the bag out of his reach. "I'm just mad."

"Is this still about us not telling you anything," Bandit asked him.

"No, I just stubbed my toe and I'm being a little whiney bitch about it," TJ said sarcastically. "Yeah it is about that. Why won't you two tell me anything? It's been a week! What are you hiding?"

"Freckles," JoJo sighed. "You sure you wanna know?"

"Yes!"

"You're not really 'bout to tell him are you?" Bandit asked JoJo while putting on his headphones. "You're sure about that?"

"Yeah I'm sure," JoJo told him. "A'ight, listen Freckles. Are you listenin'? You wanna know why Tommy Gun keeps askin' for you to come and work for him and won't give up?"

"Yeah," Said TJ.

"And you see how some guys are wearing those thin gel bracelets and keep buying more every day?"

"Uh-huh."

"Look around, Freckles. See what those guys are doing." Nodding, TJ looked around. He could easily spot the few inmates with lots of colorful gel bracelets on their arms. Some of them had more of one color than others, but they had plenty of them. Some inmate even had so much that the bracelets covered their entire lower arm, and the most popular colors were white and purple. The inmates that were wearing them stuck out from the others as well; they were usually smaller than the rest, didn't have as much muscle as the others, and had hair down to their shoulders.

"What are they doing?" TJ asked JoJo. "They're just standing around next to rooms."

"Just watch," JoJo instructed. Keeping his eye on one of the inmates wearing the bracelets, TJ watched as another inmate came up to him, snapped one of the bracelets, and the two of them went into the room they were standing by, shutting the door. "You see that?"

"Yeah, I saw it," Said TJ. "What are they doing?"

"The world's oldest profession," Said Bandit. Seeing the confused look on TJ's face, JoJo continued.

"Look, this place is full of guys, right?" JoJo asked. "And in being guys, we are very attracted to the opposite sex and we would like to have sex with them. But as you can see Freckles, the male-to-female ratio in here is approximately 350-to-0. But that doesn't change the fact that we wanna fuck. So we make due with what is commonly referred to as erotic services."

"Or male prostitutes," Bandit interrupted. "But 'prostitute' is SUCH a dirty word….."

"You're kidding, right?" TJ asked the two of them. "This is some sort of sick joke.." He just could not wrap his mind around what his friends had told him. Prostitution? He only heard of that happening inside jails and prisons, and this place wasn't anything like that. Well, maybe a little like prison, but prostitution? Really? "So then why did Tommy Gun ask me to come work for him?" His response to his question was a look of contempt from JoJo and Bandit who couldn't believe he was still asking questions about the situation. "So wait….he wants me to _work_ for him? Like…..like _those_ guys?" Bandit and JoJo nodded. "Dude! But why me? What the hell makes me so special? Why can't he find someone else to whore off?"

"I'ma tell you something, Freckles," Bandit said. "You're pretty fuckable. I'm not gay or bi or nothin', but if I was, I'd be trying to tap dat ass. Just sayin'."

"…._What_?"

"He's right though," JoJo confirmed. "Guys have been comin' up to me askin' how much you cost and shit. I don't think you can help it though; people in here got different tastes. You just happen to be a popular flavor of ass."

"This is crap," TJ said standing up. "I gotta go talk _Tommy Gun _about this shit."

"Well you don't have to go too far," Bandit said, pointed behind him. "'Cause here he comes."

TJ looked behind him to see the bane of his existence while in juvie approaching with a smug look across his face. Balling his fist, TJ did his best not to bet the shit out of the bully right then and there. How dare Tommy suggest that he become _his_ whore? Hell, why would that asshole even think for a second that he would even say yes? The bastard deserved to get beat up for that!

"What the _hell_ do YOU want?" TJ snapped at him, holding himself back.

"I just came to see if you finally decided to work for me," Said Tommy Gun with a grin. "Stop bein' stupid and work for me."

"I'm not going to be your whore!" He shouted at him. "I'm not going to work for you! Now or ever! So leave me alone!"

"Now why would I leave you alone?" Asked Tommy Gun. "Do you know how much money I could make with you? A cute, scarred, quiet, blonde guy? I'm not gonna letta chance like you get away."

"Well that's too damn bad!" TJ yelled at him. "I'm not gonna work for _you!_"

"Then who are you gonna work for? You're free game for everyone in here if you're not workin' for someone." Tommy Gun told him.

"I'm not working—"

"He works for me," JoJo said standing up. "He's my puppy, Tommy, so you can't have 'em."

"Mmm-hmm," Tommy said, looking up and down at the two of them. "A'ight, fine. But you better watch him, JoJo. Just 'cause he's workin' for you, that doesn't mean he ain't gonna work for me." As he walked away from the trio, TJ turned back to the others.

"Thanks for that," He said to JoJo. "Maybe he'll leave me alone now."

"I dunno what you thanking me for," JoJo said. "What you need to be doing is getting' your ass in line and buyin' some of those bracelets."

"What for?"

"Just do it," JoJo said sitting back down. "I'll explain it when you get back."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

If he thinks that I'm going to work for him, then he's crazy! I'm not working for anyone! I don't care how desperate I get for money, I'm not scooping down to the level of the working boys. Never in a million years. And JoJo knows that. I don't know; maybe he has some plan that I don't understand. JoJo's like that sometimes, and this better be one of those times 'cause I'm not in the mood to deal with this crap.

The guy selling at the commissary asked for which color I wanted when I asked for some of the bracelets. I didn't know which color to get so I told him one of each. After buying them I headed back over to the table where JoJo and Bandit were waiting for me.

"Okay I got some," I told them holding out the bracelets for them to see. "Now what?"

"I'm gonna tell you somethin' Freckles," JoJo started. "Just 'cause I told Tommy that your my puppy, that ain't enough to stop him from botherin' you. He's still gonna be on your ass. I don't wanna say this, 'cause you my boy, but unless you're out there workin', Tommy Gun won't believe you."

"Are you saying that I have to be your whore?" I said, outraged at what he just told me.

"You ain't gotta work for me," JoJo said. "You just gotta be out there turnin' tricks. But it's not like I want you to, 'cause I don't. But I don't want Tommy botherin' you either. You don't have to it. It's just a suggestion. If you can come up with somethin' then by all means go for it. If it makes it feel any less like prostitution, you can keep the profits." What did I get myself into? Why do I have to deal with crap like this?

Tommy Gun was planning on this from the moment I set foot in this building, I just know it. And I was too naive to spot it ahead of time. Now I'm backed into a corner without any options. Damn, I hate having no options against my will. Maybe if I stab him, he'll leave me alone…..i bet it still wouldn't work. Dammit I'm not going to be a rentboy! Fuck!

I don't want to make this type of decision. I either become a call boy, or get assaulted by an inmate for the next three years. Or how ever long Tommy Gun has until he's too old to be here. It looks like such an easy choice to make too; just learn to deal with Tommy and get over it. But it's not that simple.

It's more than clear that he's trying to have sex with me. I don't understand that part though. If he wants me to sleep with other guys to make money, then why would he keep trying to sleep with me? He's even willing to go as far as attempting to rape me. At that point I'm starting philosophize whether it's more ethical to sleep with a bunch of guys in consent or risk getting raped every time I see Tommy Gun. The only part of this that is ethical is that I'm choosing my own fate. I just don't like the choices.

JoJo isn't pushing me to do it. He's just telling me the facts. He doesn't even want me to do it. It is what it is. But, what am I going to think of myself if I decide to be rentboy? How am I going to look at myself in the mirror? What's going to go through my mind when I'm with a customer? I'll be an official slut by all definitions. Looking around I see a few inmates far from up looking and glancing at me. JoJo must've been right about people asking to sleep with me. Now they were just waiting for me to put the bracelets on so they can get in a line and wait their turn.

Gripping the bracelets, I turned to face Bandit and JoJo. I hate what I'm about to say, but…

"Fine," I told them. "I'll do it."

"You sure?" JoJo asked. "You don't gotta do it if you really don't want to."

"Yeah, I'm sure," I said. "I know I'm sure. So, why'd you have me buy these things?" I asked, referring to the bracelets.

"They're codes," Bandit said taking them. "For what you're selling. Each color stands for what you're willing to do. The red ones are for sex, orange for a kiss, yellow for French kissing, green is for feeling you up, blue is for…what's the blue on for again?"

"Frotting," Said JoJo.

"Right," Bandit continued. "Blue is for frotting, purples for oral, ah….white is for group sex, and black is for whatever the hell they want. They have more, don't they?"

"Yeah. They used to sell ones with glitter and glow in the dark," Said JoJo. "But they don't sell those anymore so that's all there is. Basically you get to choose what you wanna do by the color you're wearing. Then people come up to you, snap one of the color that they wanna do, and you do it."

"They have this down to a science, don't they?" I asked jokingly. Bandit gave me back the bracelets and looked at them. I'll be a walking billboard with these things on. I'm not going to start today. I'll wait until tomorrow to start. I need tonight to this about which colors I'm going to wear…..

"Congratulations," JoJo said halfheartedly. "You're officially a PlayDude Puppy. Be careful though. Don't want you to get hurt or nothin'."

'I'll try my best…..'

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	29. Psycopathic Tendencies

**Spring break (or spring recess as my college likes to call it) has finally come! I'm so happy! Time for updates!**

**I'm going to be borderline on the M-rating for a while. Partially in this chapter, and two or three more times in this story. But that'll be it. Just a little warning.**

**Go Forth and Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

…_.I miss Johnny. It's weird. I only knew him for a few weeks, but I miss him. Or maybe I just feel guilty because I'm doing what he wanted to do. I wish he was here with us; he would love it out here. But….he's finally at peace now, after years of the white rooms. He doesn't have any worries anymore, and that's all that matters. _

_I know it's kind of late to say this, but R.I.P. Johnny. I still love you._

_I feel like when I complain about juvie I have no right to because Johnny was in here longer than me and was in a perpetual hell all the time. Then there's JoJo. I don't think it's fair that he's in here. He's only here because he was defending he little brother from some kids who wanted to hurt them. Compared to those guys, I should just keep my mouth shut and stop complaining._

…_..I have a new job. Do I like it? Well…..it pays. It pays. _

…_._

…_.._

…_.._

…_.I think I might be the antichrist.…..I'm serious. I really think I am, or at least have the POTENTAL to be. I can't put it into words, but I just feel that way sometimes. Like I did some really bad things before I started acting out at school and if **anyone** found out about those things…._

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Red, orange, yellow.

Those are my new favorite colors because I wear them on my wrist most of the time. Out of all the bracelets I choose the red, orange, and yellow ones. Those were the only ones I could bring myself to wear. The bare minimum. Five of each on my left arm. The red ones go the fastest, then the yellow. I have plenty of oranges ones lying around. Guess people don't like them much.

Today is Tuesday. I don't like Tuesdays. Too many customers. I limit myself every day, but I get customers back to back on Tuesdays. Not enough time in between to think. That should be a good thing though. I don't want to think about this. I usually read between customers.

I was supposed to return all those books I checked out of the library. I brought back two. I kept The Torah. I thought I brought it back, but I must've forgot to put it in my backpack…..

JoJo found it on my bed, and like every other book he touched, tried to read it. He couldn't. It wasn't written in English. It's in Yiddish. He couldn't read it, but I could. I could read Yiddish before I could read English. That's because of my grandma. She wanted to make sure her grandchildren could read and write in Yiddish. I thought I forgot how to; haven't done it in a long time. I'm not trying to be religious or anything, just reading to see what's in it. So I read that while I wait for some else to come and snap a bracelet that I'm wearing—oh wait, here comes someone.

Closing my book I held out my arm that I wore the bracelets on. He came up to me, wrapped his finger around a yellow one, and snapped it off.

Sometimes I wish you couldn't do that with these things.

"How long?" I asked him. Of course I have to ask that. Prices vary, depending on what they're asking for and how long they're trying to do it for. Starting price for the yellows is $20, but it goes up fast.

"Twenty minutes," He said.

"$100," I said, leading the way into my room. "You pay $50 now, and $50 when we're done. Got it?"

"Yeah." I sat down on my bed and waited for him to give me the money. A solid fifty dollar bill. He must be getting money from the outside. He sat down next to me and pressed his lips against mine. Ugh, why does he think that slamming our teeth together equals kissing? I have enough problems with my teeth, I don't need a chipped tooth from this asshole. I see him at least twice a week, so I know what he likes, unfortunately. He started to push me down, making me lay on my back just as he was forcing his tongue in my mouth. He brushed his teeth this time. Good.

I don't pay much attention after this. I let my mind roam until he time was up; time goes by faster that way. JoJo knows not to come in when I…..'go to work.' He came in once, it was awkward. The guy I was with that time offered to pay me triple to get us to have a threesome. JoJo laughed right in his face, grabbed his cigarettes, and left. The only thing that stopped me from doing the same was that I was under him and I didn't have any clothes on. I made $150 that time.

But like I said, I don't like to think about what I'm doing. It's not like I'm lying in bed at night crying about it, because I'm not. I just feel like I've sunken back to the bottom of the pecking order. Specs needs to hurry up and come over here. I'm better at selling drugs than this. And I need to do my homework.

I was getting straight A's in math and my teacher saw it. She said that she saw my work and thought that algebra 1 was too easy for me. She gave me a chance to go into a harder class, and I took it. Part of it was for the challenge, the other was to get away from Tommy Gun. The class is a little harder, so I have to pay attention or I'll get behind. I don't mind though.

I was expecting Tommy to come around and snap one of my bracelets to get me to do something for him, but he hasn't. He's watching me though, waiting for me to slip up and to swoop in and attack. Creep. At least I'm making money off of this. If I wasn't, I'd just be doing it to keep Tommy Gun off my back, which would defeat the purpose. But I still feel like he's in control of this situation, like he's making me do this without _making_ me do this…

Looking at my watch I see that his twenty minutes are up and tapped him on the shoulder. I felt his lips and body lift off of me. He reached into his pocket and gave me the other half of what I charged him before leaving. I'm a hundred dollars richer. Hooray for me.

I was about to call it day because all I had left were red bracelets left and I didn't feel like fucking for the next few hours, but I saw a particular customer coming up. He always pays double. I charged him $200 once and paid $400. He said he really liked to the service and the extra $200 was a tip. Am I willing to do this today? …..Yes. Yes I am.

He came up to me and snapped one of the remaining red bracelets, whipped out $200, and handed it to me before pulling me into my room. Dammit I hate being manhandled. I only put up with it for the money, but I still hate it. After he closed the door he tossed me on my bed and was on top of me in seconds, smashing his lips against mine.

I need to make a policy about not kissing unless they're specifically paying for that service.

By now I went limp, just like every other time before. He knows this is normal, so he didn't say anything. I need to think about something until this is over, but what? Let's see…

….I got nothing. Oh wait, here's something. I feel like being….what's the word? Oh, yeah. Mischievous. I feel like being mischievous. Like I used to be before. I want to do something big too. Not some small prank like a little kid. But what could I do? I don't have the right stuff to make an explosion. Wait a minute. I don't want to do a _prank_, I want to come up with a scheme. _Pranks _are for little kids, and I'm not a little kid. I'm 15 years old for fucks sake. But still, what?

OUCH! Fuck, I keep telling this guy to slow down! What doesn't he understand about that? It's still going to get in there without him jamming it in!

Where was I? Oh yeah, coming up with a scheme. I would need JoJo and Bandit to help me. Specs too. Maybe they have an idea, because I sure don't.

But I _really_ need to do my homework. After this customer I'm done for the day, I swear.

I feel weight lift off of my chest that didn't return. I look up and see him standing and putting his clothes back on. I see my uniform lying on the floor, pick it up and start to put it back on. Just as I was doing the last button, ten twenty dollar bills pinned together with a paper clip landed next to me.

"I'd go crazy in here if it weren't for you doing this," He told me.

"Mmm-hmm," I mumbled, counting the money. After he was done putting his clothes on he left without saying another word. As usual. Pulling the remaining bracelets off, I put them into my pocket and headed out too find JoJo and Bandit. What have they been up to?

"You okay Freckles?" JoJo asked me. He's always asking if I'm okay, ever since I started doing what I do a few weeks ago. I keep giving him the same answer, but he keeps asking anyways. I don't mind though; he's probably just worried. "You've been quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him, sitting down at the table. "I just feel like being quiet right now. It's nothing to worry about." Nodding, JoJo shuffled the deck of cards in his hands, ending the conversation. I don't think he knows that I know that he's been watching me every time someone comes up to me and snaps one of my bracelets. I know we're supposed to look after one another, but I can handle this on my own. Or maybe he's watching out for Tommy Gun. I see him looking at me from where ever he happens to be on any particular day. He better not be thinking that if he comes up to me that he's going to be a customer. Nope, not gonna happen. I'm waiting to see if he tries.

JoJo dealt out the cards between the three of us and we started to play blackjack. We haven't played in a while, so we were a little more enthusiastic about it this time around. But I knew I would lose because my mind isn't on the game, its somewhere else.

I'm starting to feel like I did before I came here. The same way and felling I felt when I found out halfway through fifth grade that I liked doing things that most people would find horrifying. Not those pranks I pulled back at Third Street, no; that was small stuff. How do I describe it?

…Let's just say I have some psychopathic tendencies…

I remember when I first found out about it. It was one a weekend, and I was so _fucking_ bored. I did the usual things I did to occupy myself with, but nothing worked. So I took a walk and ended up going through the woods. And there was this cat that kept following me. I tried to get it go away but I wouldn't. So I lit it on fire.

I lit that cat on fire. And I liked it. I liked watching it run around trying to get away from the flames. I like watching it shriek in pure agony. I sat there, against the tree and watched it trying to save itself until it collapsed and died from the burns. And I was laughing the whole time. It was funny, so I was going to laugh. That what you do when you see something that you think is funny. Laugh. It was so funny that I did it a again. I had to find a cat the next time. There was this lady that lived by the woods who had a bunch of cats, so stole one of hers and lit that one on fire too. And I did it again and again. It was still as funny on the tenth time as the first. My 'former' friends didn't have a clue to what I was doing. They didn't know, and I had no intention of telling them. I did this when I was alone and bored. I still acted the same was at school, at least until I started my new brand of pranks.

I was going to get another cat to light up when that woman who lived in that house with all the cats came out and stopped me. She said she saw what I was doing and told me to stop. She called me 'a disturbed little boy' for lighting her cat on fire and laughing at them. She moved soon after that.

Disturbed. That's such and ugly word.

But that feeling I got when I watched those cats running around with flames engulfing them or even right when I was coming up with a new prank to pull on the entire school, it's coming back. I can feel it. I can't eve describe the feeling, but it's incredible. I only experienced it in here when I was doing drugs; it's that good.

….

….

….

…I think about hurting people, too. A lot. I don't let anyone know about it though. They'd think I'm crazier than what they already think. I dunno why I think about hurting people; I just do. I think about killing them too. I've dreamt about hurting and killing people more than just a few times to be able to blow off. Not only do I think and dream about hurting and killing people, but I think about _how_. But I don't feel anything when that happens. It's the same feeling I got with killing those cats.

…that's confusing…

When the cats were on fire and trying to save their lives, that make me feeling something that I can't describe. When they keeled over and died, I felt nothing for them, like when I think about hurting people. Does that make sense? Yeah that makes sense.

…

I should probably tell Mr. Simmons that. He already visited this month, so I have to wait until next month. No, I'm not going to tell him. That's none of his business. He's a nice guy, but I think I'll keep this to myself. I don't plan to kill anyone though. I least I don't want to. Yet. I just think about it.

I had a dream one time, where I broke out of here and made my way to Third Street. I was so angry by the time I reached home. And I found my 'former' friends in one of their houses, just hanging out. I don't remember whose house it was but that didn't really matter since I lit it on fire. They saw me and begged through the window that I was watching them to help them get out. I didn't. I just sat down nearby and watched them drop like flies and I didn't _feel_ anything. It's just a dream, so it didn't really happen and now one should care about it.

…..I do think about hurt _them_ though. More than anyone. I don't want to kill them though. That would be too easy. I would want them to suffer for as long as I could drag it out. Not just physical pain either. Mental pain, too. I want them to feel the exact amount of pain I felt whilst I'm in here. And I want it to seem to last forever. I would want them begging for their lives and for me to have mercy on them. No, I'd want them begging for me to _take_ their lives because the pain would be too much.

….

….But I only think about it. I don't plan to do it. It's okay to think about it if I'm not planning on doing it, right? I just have tendencies. Psychopathic tendencies. That I keep to myself. Nothing wrong with that.

It's not all the time though. Like in here, it's not as bad. I don't do what I did outside in here. I don't want to. It's weird, 'cause ever since I came in here, I didn't have that urge to do what I did back at Third Street, or it just wasn't as strong. I think about doing it though, I just don't want to. Not here. I like it here. It's what I'm used to. I do wanna raise some hell for Third Street though. But I would have to break out for that, and they have this place guarded pretty tight. Even if I did manage to get out, how am I going to reach home? Third Streets three hours away. By car. I think I'll stick around here for now.

"I'm tired," I said, setting my cards down on the table. "I'm going to sleep early night. See you guys later." Standing up from the table I headed towards JoJo and my room. Today was a long day. I need some sleep.

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><p><strong>This chapter sort of went off the rails, but I wanted to spend at less one chapter focusing solely on his thoughts.<strong>

**Donna Nnov: I remember those things from middle school too. But here it only lasted for a month or two before dying out like a fad. I never did figure out which color stood for what, so I made it up for this story. I won't get into much detail about the whole sex thing though. Maybe once or twice, but they won't be happening for a while.**

**RandallXSpinelli: heh heh, sorry to kill your childhood. Didn't mean to. But I swear that it serves a purpose to the overall story. I won't get into as much detail as this chapter did from now on, but it is important. **

**Please Review!**


	30. Kids With Guns Pt 1

**Luckily I don't have any work over spring break so I can dedicate that time to fan fiction and regaining my drawing skills I lost after my first year or college. Hooray for me! **

**This chapter may seem rushed, but it has to be, and you all will see why.**

**Read On!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

…_.I forgot what fresh air smelled like. It's wonderful. I haven't seen the moon in forever either. It's incredible. The stars too._

_The cool wind blowing through my air and raindrops falling against my hands and flowing between my fingers, it's amazing. It's crazy what you miss after three years of captivity. _

_I wish Johnny was out here though._

**~*~U~*~**

"It's about damn time you came over!"

"Well it was getting depressingly boring over there, so I decided to hack into the system and change my birthday to come over a few months earlier than what was scheduled. How you don't mind."

"Hell no we don't mind!"

Guiding Specs over to the others, TJ was relieved that the younger male had finally come to the older dorms. With only himself, JoJo, and Bandit, the group didn't seem complete without the goggle-wearing inmate. That and TJ saw the opportunity to make more money. Escorting didn't make nearly as much money as drug dealing, so he was eager jump back into it. Sure, he would still have to worry about Tommy Gun, but he figured that if he could somehow get the bully hooked on drugs that Tommy Gun would be at his mercy instead of the other way around. But for now he was helping his friend adjust to the older dorms.

"So what have I missed?" Specs asked him as they walked over to the others. "From what I hear things are really different over here."

"You have no idea," TJ told him. "Just look around. There this whole racial division everyone has going on! Not with us though. We're all still friends and everything, but you just can't ignore what's going on. But it's not like they're violent towards each other, it just is."

"Aren't you still too young to be over here?" JoJo asked as the two of them approached the table. "What'd you do, trick the warden?"

"That is precisely what I did," Said Specs. "So who am I rooming with? I'm presuming I'm staying with you Bandit?"

"As always," Bandit said, getting out of his seat and leading Specs to his room. "C'mon." The two of them left, leaving JoJo and TJ by themselves. JoJo took a long drag from his cigarette before walking into his and TJ's room without saying a word. Confused, TJ followed him. Inside the room, TJ saw JoJo looking out the window. Today was unusually cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain later.

"What's goin' on Freckles?" JoJo asked, not turning around.

"Nothing," TJ said. "Just bored. What about you?"

"I'm tired or being in here," JoJo said listlessly. "I'm thinkin' of tryin' to break out."

"Break out? This whole place it guard tighter than the white rooms," TJ told him. "It's impossible it get past the front gate."

"I know, I know," Said JoJo. "Damn, way to put a brother down Freckles."

"Sorry," Said TJ. "It's just that I wanna break out too, but we both know that it's impossible so I don't want to get our hopes up knowing that it won't work."

"Guess you right about that," JoJo admitted. "It doesn't hurt to dream though, right? I just miss knowing what it's like out there."

"Yeah. Me too." The two of them stared outside, watching more storm clouds roll in and the sky beginning to darken. It was going to rain anytime soon, and they would have to close the window, meaning that they wouldn't be able to enjoy the cool breeze coming through. It was a good break form the stale air of the dorms. "

"How would we do it though?" JoJo asked, speaking up after the uncomfortable silence settled in. "Just hypothetically."

"I dunno," Said TJ. "…..I think everyone would have to breakout at the same time since there are so many guards. To overwhelm them. If it's just us then they could catch us. Hypothetically of course. But that's just one idea. I haven't come up with things like this in a really long time."

"What's all this talk about breaking out?" Bandit asked as he and Specs came in the room. "You got some plans?"

"Nope," TJ said. "Just a passing thought. It's nothing."

"It wouldn't be impossible," Specs said absently. "Just improbable. But it's not like you're actually planning anything."

"Improbable….that doesn't mean the same as impossible, right?" TJ asked Specs.

"Impossible means it can't happen," Specs told him. "Improbable means it _can_ happen, but it's not likely. People have broken out before, so I'm assuming that is possible. But that's just off the top of my head; I could be wrong, however unlikely that is."

"So are we doin' it or what?" JoJo spoke up. "I need to know this if we're goin' to keep talkin' about it." Silence fell in the room as they all were uncertain of what to say. The idea of breaking out made their imaginations run wild. They, as well as all other inmates, wished that they could somehow escape, but no one was willing to try in fear of not succeeding and having their sentences extended.

"Well we know we _want_ to," Bandit said. "It's a start."

"Let's sleep on it," Said TJ. "I think if we're still talking about it tomorrow then we should start to come up with something."

"Good idea," Specs said. "We'll see I it worth bringing up again tomorrow. In the weight room." Nodding in agreement, the boys decided to go their separate ways until tomorrow to allow themselves the chance to think. Instead of leaving the room, TJ sat in his own bed, thinking about the possibility of coming up with any sort of plan to break out.

It has been a good four years since he has come up with a plan (not counting pranks, those were in a completely different category). With the idea of breaking out humming around it reminded him of those times. It was fun, but he abandoned it for more diabolical things. Now this. If he were to come up with some sort of idea, he had no idea how difficult it would be. He was rusty, for lack of better words, and a task like this might be too much. Then again, the group could decide not to break up and he wouldn't have to worry about coming up with a plan. But part of him wanted to take on the challenge just for the sake of it. It would definitely be something different to do than the usual things he does each and every day. And they would be doing it as a group rather just depend on him to come up with everything. And even if they did fail miserably, they would have a story to tell, and one hell of a story it would be.

"Freckles?" JoJo asked, bring TJ out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I wanna break out," JoJo said, barely above a whisper. "I gotta see my little brother. It's been almost six years since I've seen him. I don't care how we get out of here, I just have to. You said you used to come up with plans like this. A long time ago. Do you think you can come up with something?"

"…maybe," Said TJ. "I dunno….like you said, I haven't done it in a long time…."

"We'd help you, however we could," JoJo told him. "We would just leave you to do it one your own."

"I know you guys would. It's just that I would have to think about it," Said TJ. "This is a big place. I couldn't just do it off the top of my head. But…..I know how much your little brother means to you JoJo. So if you want to break out of here, I promise that will happen. Okay?"

"Thanks."

'Looks like I'm doing it," TJ thought. 'It's okay though. I owe him for helping me when I first came here. Shouldn't be too hard.'

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

"Freckles? You awake?"

"I am now…" Rolling over in my bed a faced JoJo, though it was hard to see him in the middle of the night without any lights on. I only went to sleep a few hours ago and was drowsy from being woken up. "What's wrong?" JoJo didn't answer my question because a loud thunderbolt answered for him. I could hear the rain outside and the wind blowing hard. Every few seconds a flash of lightning filled the room with a blinding light before thunder touched down somewhere far away. I moved over in my bed as much as a could so JoJo could get in.

JoJo doesn't like thunderstorms. I think it's the only thing he's scared of. More like terrified. He jumps whenever a thunder bangs a little too close for him to handle. He just needs something to hold on to. That just happens to be me. I don't mind. Storms like this one remind me of why I'm in juvie and how I only have myself to blame. I get sad on nights like this, so I kill two birds with one stone by letting JoJo hold on to me until the storm is over. He always goes back to his own bed when it's over.

Another loud bang from thunder echoed through the room and I felt him grip my arm just a little bit tighter while holding himself back from jumping.

"You okay JoJo?" I asked him.

"Mmm-hmm," He mumbled. "I'm okay."

The lightning and thunder calmed down, and I could hear JoJo's light snoring behind me. Finally, now I can get some sleep.

**~*~V~*~**

I still don't understand how they can serve us crap to eat but can afford thinks like a library and a weight room. I don't' question the weight room as much as the library; I suppose they would want us to keep in shape so we aren't giant slobs. But it's just a part of the gym class we have to take. I like the weight room anyways. Lots of barbells and dumbbells. And I need something to keep in shape. If someone comes up to me and picks a fight I want to be ready. After carrying two twenty pound weights over to a set of barbells that the others were standing and talking next to, I put one on each side and locked them in place with the rest weights that I already put on.

"So we want bust out of here," Bandit said. "Now what?"

"We come up with a strategy of course," Specs told us.

"And that's where I supposedly comes in," I said as I lay under the barbells and began to lift. "I used to do this sort of thing all the time. But the last time I did, I was 11 or 12 years old. I'm 15 now, so it's been a few years."

"But that's why we're gonna help him," JoJo said from where he was sitting and lifting a set of dumbbells. ""Cause that's what blood brothers do. And it'd be fucked up if we didn't. So what you need, Freckles?"

"What do I need…I think I need to know the layout of this place first," I said. "I need to know how the building is organized. Not just for this building but the whole center. You know, this building, the building with the white rooms, the girl's dorm, just the whole place. Think you guys can get those for me?"

"I can get schematics at lunch," Specs told me. "There's this vent in my room that I can get through to get to the room where they keep them."

"Okay, good. Until I get those I can't do anything else, so we have to wait until then."

**~*~V~*~**

Rolling out one of the tubes of light blue paper, I looked at the drawings on the large sheet. A dark blue sketch of a bird's eye view of the four buildings, the five watch towers, and the fence surrounding it all was on the paper. Specs managed to get the schematics like he said, and now we're all looking at it in my and JoJo's room so the guard won't know that we have it and take it away.

"What do you think?" JoJo asked me.

"That depends," I said, rolling that sheet up and opening another. The layout of our building. "I still need to know some stuff. How many guards are there in this place?"

"There are 150 guards on duty at any given time," Specs said. "In both dorms. 75 over here and 75 in the girl dorms."

"And how many inmates are there?"

"350 boys and 200 girls. There are 200 guys in here, the older dorms, but the older dorms are separated into two dorms so we only see about a hundred. The younger dorms have 150. I don't know about the girls dorms."

"So there are 550 inmates in this whole place?" I asked Specs.

"Yep," He said. "But the numbers might be off by a few because of the white dorms being I a different building. But not by much."

"So at any given time, there are more inmates here than guards….," I mumbled. "So we overwhelm them. If we all breakout at once, they won't be able to handle us all."

"That's all fine and dandy," Bandit said, finally speaking up. "But you're forgetting one thing."

"What?" I asked him.

"How are you gonna get everyone to work together? Don't forget that there's a racial divide in here," Bandit told us. "They're not like us out there; they hate each other. I hope you gotta plan to handle that."

"Girls," Said JoJo.

"Girls?" We all asked.

"The girls can get them to stop actin' retarded," He said.

"But how are you gonna get the girls to come over here?" I asked him.

"Leave that to me," JoJo said leaving the room. I don't understand how he works sometimes. Maybe its better that I don't know. For the rest of lunch, Bandit and Specs helped me identify some of the rooms. I can't believe that they would have a room to hold all the guns that they carry around. Wouldn't they know how dangerous that is? Doesn't matter. I think I can use this to our advantage.

"Specs, do you how far it is to the nearest road?" I asked.

"The nearest road is a mile in every direction," Specs told me.

"There's a train track half a mile north," Bandit said. "The train comes at nine p.m. and six a.m. every day." The bell signaling recess rang. I rolled up the sheet of schematics and hid them all under my bed. Following Bandit and Specs we headed out and met up with JoJo along the way.

"What'd you do?" I asked JoJo.

"I took care of business," He said. "Just wait until we get outside." So waited. It was all I could do. I know he wouldn't tell me if I begged him. Once we were outside, nothing seemed new. Everyone was where they would usually be. But after walking a little more I could see the guards leading in the girls from their dorms to our outside area. "See?"

"What'd you call us ova for JoJo?" We turned around to see a very impatient looking girls standing behind us. I recognized her. She was the girl who JoJo and I met when I got new shoes. Her names Veronica, I think. "This better be important." There were two other girls standing on either side of her. One's really short, a little too short if you ask me, and she wore her long blonde hair in low pigtails. Her prison uniform was in the form of a dress. The other was only a little shorter than Veronica, had her brown hair down on her shoulders, wore a pair of raver goggles on her head, and had a normal prison uniform with legs.

"It is," JoJo said calmly. "We trying to break out. Freckles got plans. You want in?"

"Aren't you the kid I gave those shoes?" Veronica asked me. I nodded. "So you got a plan huh? What'sha got?"

"First I wanna know how and why the girls are over here," I told her.

"These two," She paused to point at the girls next to her. "Flushed a giant cherry bomb down the toilet. Went through a pipe and blew up. The pipe wen under our outside area and destroyed it."

"So you guys can make explosives?"

"Yep."

"Okay here's what I have so far. So close because I don't want everyone to hear yet…"

**~*~V~*~**

It's been a week since I started strategizing this plan, and everything was going too perfectly. With the help from Veronica, her friends, and the other girls, they managed to convince the inmates to suck up their pride and stop the racial division to listen to my idea. Being in dorms without any females in sight makes them easy to manipulate by the girls. And they wanted to get out too. But everyone couldn't be in on it at once, so we had three guys from every group talk with us. We used a radio to communicate with the girls in their dorms too. Luckily they didn't have racial division like the guys did. Tommy Gun even stopped harassing me to take part. Guess he wants out just as much as anyone else.

We need explosions to distract the guards. Specs and Googly, the girl with the raver goggles were in charge with that. They couldn't make enough on their own, so they gave instructions to a few inmates in both these dorms and the younger dorms. I got in contact with a few of my best customers and told then what we were up to. We needed all the help we could get.

Me and JoJo had to climb through the vents to get to the room that held all the guards weapons and armor. We handed them out, little by little. Too much at once would've raised suspicions. Now half of the inmates have guns and ammo including me, the guys, and the three girls. It's only for protection if the guards start firing at us, and we made sure the inmates knew not to fire unless the guards fire at us. And we there trying to avoid that by jamming their guns.

I told everyone to get into groups when they breakout so they can look out for one another. It goes without saying that me, JoJo, Bandit, and Specs are one group. The girls are another.

I assigned a large group, completely randomly to breakout the inmates in the white rooms. There was no way I was going to forget about those guys. They deserved to get out too.

Everyone understood that they had to run half a mile to the train tracks and a mile to the closest road. Once they were out past that fence, I told them they were on their own. Just run like death is chasing them.

Now we're just waiting for the explosions to go off. They're planted in one of the rooms far from the dorms. He guards will go off and see what it is and we should be able to overwhelm them then. Dammit this better work.

Sitting our room, JoJo and I loaded our guns, Jericho 941's, and put the rest of the ammo in our pockets. Just in case. I don't want to shoot at anyone. I don't want to risk killing _anyone_, even those damn guards. But if they shoot one of my friends I swear to God I'll become the sharpest shooter on this side of the planet. Glad I'm in shape. We planned for this to happen at 8:30 p.m., thirty minutes before the train comes. We're trying to catch that train, and I'll be pissed if we miss it.

Me and JoJo jump up at the sound of several explosions going off. We watched from our room as half of the guards outside go off to see what was going on. After they left the inmates looked at me for the signal to start running. I gave the signal, and they all came out running towards the two remaining guards and tied them up against one of the pillars.

After that they took off and ran to the area outside with us following behind. Once we reached the first gate, everyone started using whatever they could to cut the metal fence. The alarm went off and the light towers were starting to come on and we all panicked. We all started to climb over the fence. When me, JoJo, Bandit, and Specs were over we headed towards the last fence to get though. I could see the girls making their escape, as well as the inmates from the white rooms. Perfect.

Guards started rushing out to stop us, but there was more of us than them and I was not about to stop for them. The alarm got louder and was almost deafening. When we made it past the last fence we ran for our lives. We were making good time too; we could hear the sound of the train approaching.

'We're so close!' I thought. 'Just a little bit further!' I could hear the barks of the dogs as they were released to catch some of the escapees.

"Fucking dogs!" Bandit yelled! "I hate dogs!"

"Just keep running and they won't catch you!" Specs told him. "Don't worry about them. Just keep running!" It wasn't enough for the guards to send the dogs after us; now they were starting to shoot. But it's dark with only a little moon light so they shouldn't hit us.

Suddenly a felt a sharp pain in my left arm and fell to the ground. I screamed out in pain a grabbed my arm. I couldn't see, but I could feel the blood following between my fingers. It reminded me of how the blood felt when I slit my wrists. Thick and pouring fast. The guys saw that I was down, and came back to pick me up. My legs were fine, so a kept running on my own. I wasn't going out like this. No way. I'm making it to that train. Fuck this bullet in my arm! It'll take a bullet in my head to stop me.

The train has an open trailer, so we're aiming to jump into one. We ran up next to it, and started to climb in one by one. First Specs, then JoJo. I jumped in next, and we all helped Bandit climb in. As the train rolled on we celebrated. There was no way they could catch up to us now. The thrill of it numbed the pain from my wound and we just celebrated, shouting in happiness and hugging one another for the success. It's been years since I came with a plan and I did this. All of this. And I'm free! We're all free! At least for now. Until we get caught, we're free! We might me felons, but it feels damn good. We don't care where this train is headed, as long as it is away from Duval, it's the train to heaven.

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: Yes, he's definitely a pyromaniac. :) A crazy pyromaniac that should be kept away from all open flames. I don't know why but I always picture him as kid that <em>would<em> be a pyromaniac. **

**RandallXSpinelli: I actually am working on becoming a writer. ;) I'm even working on a book as we speak. I just need to figure out the plot and I'll be set to go. It's giving me headache though because I can't come up with anything good that'll stick out from stories that have already been written. **

**Please Review!**


	31. Kids With Guns Pt 2

**I've been waiting to write this chapter! It's finally here! **

**This chapter was going to be GIGANTIC if I hadn't decided to break it up into two parts. It would've been ever bigger than that 8,000-plus word monster I wrote a while ago. But I promised I wouldn't make another chapter that big and wanted to keep it.**

**Read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

…_..I have nothing to say._

**~*~V~*~**

"There. That should due for now. But I really think you should get that checked out at a hospital."

Once the thrill of having escape wore off, TJ felt the pain of the gunshot in his arm return. He swore that he could feel it in his bone since it hurt so much. The bleeding went down significantly, but blood was still coming from the wound. Using a pair of tweezers and his ripped piece of his sleeve, TJ took out the bullet in his arm and with help from the others he wrapped up his arm around the bullet hole. It still hurt like hell, but it would due.

"A hospital?" TJ asked. "We just broke out. If I go to hospital they'll call the police and get sent back to juvie. This is just fine for now."

"If you say so," Specs said.

"Anyone know where this train is going?" Bandit asked. "I would like to know where we're headed."

"East." They all turned around to look for where the source of the answer came from. When the moonlight shone through the trailer they were travelling in they saw man sitting in the corner of the trailer. With his tattered clothes and dirty appearance they figured that he was homeless. "This train is headed east. Through Greenville, Franklin, Oxford, cutting through Third Street before heading out of state."

"Franklin? Me and Specs are from Franklin," Bandit said. "How long is it until we reach it?"

"Another five hours," Said the homeless man. "This train takes the long way around the state."

"I dunno about you guys, but im getting off as soon as this train crosses Third Street," TJ said. "I got an itch that can only be put out with revenge for the assholes who put me in Duval. What about you all?"

"Oxford I guess," JoJo said absentmindedly. "I'm tryin' to see my little brother."

"I suppose me and Bandit will get off in Franklin," Specs said.

"We won't reach any of those places for five hours. What do you guys want to do until then?" Asked TJ. "Sleep?"

"Sleep sounds good," bandit said, sitting down against a stack of boxes. "One of us should stay up to make sure none of us misses our stop."

"I'll do it," TJ said, volunteering. "I'm already in too much pain to sleep."

"Here," Bandit said, handing him his headphones and CD players. "This is my favorite album; Homework by Daft Punk. It'll keep you up, promise."

"Thanks." Putting on the headphones, TJ pushed play and watched as the others laid down and began to go to sleep. He sat down across from them and looked outside. It was dark, and the stars were out and shining. If it wasn't for the music TJ knew that he would fall asleep.

'Man….what am I gonna do when I get to Third Street?' He wondered. Getting something to eat was on the top of TJ's list to do. He was starving and he planned to eat anything that was edible when he got his hands on it whenever he got to where he was going. But then that brought up the issue of not getting caught. He and the guys would get to their destinations and by then the fact that they and others had escaped would be all over the news and police would probably be all over the place looking for them and they all stood out like a sore thumb. Their orange jumpers were made to stick out of the crowd, and even if they brought the tops down and wore it like pants with the white t-shirt as a top, they still would be noticeable. They would have to run through woods to stay out of sight.

'Where am I going to stay?' He asked himself. TJ thought that the woods was probably be the best place to hide. Being out in town in the open for everyone to see would draw attention. Even though he looked nothing like his former self with the bleached blonde hair, scar and blind eye, he was still in his orange uniform, and everyone would be on the lookout for that. Or, knowing that he was loose and could possibly be headed back to Third Street, would hide out in their basements and bomb shelters until they were given the all-clear. But he didn't want to take that risk.

Going to his parents was out of the question. He wasn't going to waste time thinking about it.

'Maybe I could go to Prickly's," he thought. 'No, I shouldn't do that. That'll cause him too much trouble. He already visits and answers my phone calls. I'll visit him though. But would he call the police on me?...Maybe. I'll visit anyway. And see what the fuck my parents are up to.'

Stretching, TJ told himself that when the CD that he was listening to was over, he would wake one of the others up to switch shifts. Taking out his gun he removed the ammo from the chamber and put them in a separate pocket. No need for it now, and he was sure he would be able to handle the homeless guy if he decided to go crazy.

**~*~V~*~**

"Good luck not getting caught. Not that we don't want to you guys again, but we're not trying to go back to Duval." When the train crossed over into Franklin, JoJo and TJ woke up to say goodbye to Bandit and Specs before they left. Although there was only a small chance that they would never get caught, they wanted to make sure that just in case that they said their goodbyes.

"Promise to be careful," JoJo told them. "Don't be stupid and get caught."

"We're not gonna get caught," Bandit said. "We know what we're doing. Freckles, can I get my headphones back before I go?"

"Yeah," TJ said, handing Bandit his headphones and CD player. "It's a good album. A little repetitive, but still good."

"If we ever get caught I'll get you your own copy," Bandit told him. "Can't have you listening to mine all the time. No Offence."

"We're going to have to duck, cover and roll," Specs said. "The train isn't going to slow down any time before passing through. There's a ditch a little bit ahead. We could try to land in that."

"Don't break any bones," JoJo said.

"We'll try not to." After the two of them said their goodbyes, JoJo and TJ watched and the other two jumped out of the moving trailer and rolled into a nearby ditch. Just before bandit and Specs were out of sight they waved, letting the other two know that they made it and were okay. Sitting down against a stack of boxes, TJ rubbed his arm where he was shot. The throbbing pain had gone down, but he was also feeling numb over the area. He could still move his arm without a problem, but the wound was still on his mind. But he didn't want to get taken back to Duval by going to the hospital to get treated, though he admitted that sounded dumb.

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was only 1 a.m. It would be another two hours before the train reached Third Street. When he did get there he would have to sleep in the woods or somewhere that no one would find him. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping in the cold, but it was necessary and he knew he would have to grin and bear it.

"Freckles," JoJo said sitting down next to TJ. "You should get off at Oxford with me."

"Why?"

"Just 'cause," He said. "I know tryin' to get off at Third Street, but I think we should get off at the same spot. To watch each other's back. I'll make sure you get to Third Street after we make a few stops. Just a suggestion. You don't have to come with me."

"…you promise I'll get to Third Street?" TJ asked him, skeptically of the offer. JoJo nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. But you better keep your promise."

"I got it," Said JoJo. "It's my turn to stay up, so go to sleep. I'll wake you up."

"Are you sure about that?" TJ asked him. "You seem out of it."

"Yeah I'm good. Just tired from breakin' out." Nodding, TJ laid on his back and looked at the sky. Clouds now covered everything that could be seen, and fog was starting to come down, making it seem colder than it already was. Right after he closed his eyes and started to go to sleep it started to rain, but showed no sign of lightning or thunder.

**~*~V~*~**

"I think rolling into that ditch did a number on my shoulder…"

Following JoJo into the woods, TJ rubbing his right shoulder in pain. After hitting the ground after rolling into the ditch when getting off the train he felt a shape pain shoot through his shoulder blade and through his arm, but it was quickly going away. Walking through the dense woods proved to be hard, especially in the dark, so TJ tried to stay close behind JoJo so that he wouldn't get lost. But he was questioning whether or not JoJo was already lost.

"You're sure you know where you're going, right?" TJ asked as he moved to avoid getting hit in the face by a low branch. "It's kind of dark out here."

"I know where I'm goin'," JoJo told him. "I used to go through these woods all the time. See that." He stopped walking and pointed to a wooden shed nearby. "That's where me and my little brother used to hangout sometimes. It's beaten up now but it used to be in better in shape. So c'mon. We got a twenty minute walk until we reach town."

"Okay, okay. I believe you," Said TJ. "Twenty minutes, huh?"

"Yep. Twenty minutes," JoJo said. "Up-hill. So it's more like a half-hour."

"Jesus Christ…." TJ mumbled. "Couldn't we have just took the train into town?"

"The train goes around town," Said JoJo as they started to go up the hill. "Doesn't go through. And town is on top of a hill so we would still climb a hill no matter where we got off. And stop makin' me talk and wastin' my breath!"

'Who the hell builds a town on top of a hill this steep?' TJ thought as he forced himself up the hill. 'This is crap.' Climbing up the hill was bad enough, but the rain had turned the dirt into mud, making each and every step a risk for slipping and tumbling down to the bottom of the hill. So he grabbed onto the nearest tree or branch to keep himself steady. It didn't take long for him to lose his breath as well. Hiking into town was exhausting, and TJ thought that talking might've helped the time go by faster, but JoJo was right. Talking only wasted their breath that they need to keep a steady pace.

TJ kept walking under he walked into JoJo and fell to the ground.

"We're here," JoJo said, pointing to the town ahead of them. "See? When you stop your bitchin' things happen faster."

"Uh-huh," TJ said. "Well? Let's go!" JoJo lead the way into town, past a strip mall, buildings, and a school before reaching houses. Before he could ask what they were doing there, TJ was pulled into the bushes by JoJo who told him to keep his mouth shut.

"Why'd you pull me in here?" TJ asked him, angrily. "There are thorns in this bush!"

"I ain't gettin' caught for you!" JoJo snapped. "Just be quiet. We gotta wait until me parents leave to go to work…."

"How long's that gonna be?"

"Few hours."

"A FEW HOURS? JOJO-"

"Shut the fuck up!" JoJo yelled. "Look, what time is it now? 4 a.m.? It'll be about an hour. So just chill. Philosophize or some shit, like you do in your journal."

"How do you know what's in my journal?"

"I get bored," JoJo said with a guilty smile. "Just relax; go to sleep or whatever."

"I'm not going to sleep if it's only going to be for an hour," TJ said, laying down in his stomach.

"Then I guess you watching grass grow."

Staring at the ground in boredom, TJ arranged and arranged rocks to keep himself occupied. At this rate he estimated that he would be in Third Street sometime after the sun rose, if at all. As long as he got there, that was all that mattered. He didn't plan to stay though. Staying in one place was risky for him and JoJo, and they were fugitives now that they broke out of juvie. He couldn't stay in Third Street or anywhere for long than a day or two. While thinking about the near future, TJ found himself falling asleep while waiting for JoJo to go and do what he was here for. He didn't sleep long, because when he woke up and saw that JoJo wasn't with him, he looked out of the bush to see JoJo approaching their hiding spot with a ladder.

"Did you see your little brother?" TJ asked him.

"No," JoJo said. "C'mon, let's go."

"What do you mean 'no'?" He asked. "He's not in there?"

"No."

"So where is he?"

"I don't know!" Yelled JoJo. "Stop askin' me questions! Now c'mon! We gotta get some new clothes. And help me carry this ladder. It's heavy…" Reluctantly TJ helped JoJo carry the ladder after brushing off a few thorns from his uniform. The ladder was heavier than he expected it to be, but he blamed that on being tired from short naps and having to move fast right after those naps. Together the two inmates walked through the town carrying the ladder until they reached the strip mall at the edge of town. Reaching one of the stores, the boys placed the ladder against the wall and used it to climb onto the roof. They saw a door leading into the store they were on top of.

"I suggest that you change clothes," JoJo said as he walked away into the isles of clothes. "You look like a fugitive."

"No, really? I didn't notice," Said TJ. "I don't even know what size I am…and it's dark! How the fuck…" Walking through the isle, he looked for something that seemed like it would fit him. Soon the problem became not to find something that fits, but something he liked. Frustrated, he grabbed a random pair of ants, shirt and quickly put them on, abandoning his orange uniform.

"Freckles, we gotta go!" JoJo yelled as he ran past TJ. "We're gonna miss the bus to Third Street."

"There's a bus heading towards Third Street?" TJ asked running after him.

"Yeah and if you don't hurry up we're gonna miss it!" The two of them made their way outside and saw a bus approaching the mall. The two of them ran to the bus stop just in time as the bus stopped in front of them. Not suspecting anything was awry, the bus driver let them get on after JoJo paid the far for the both of them.

"Where'd you get the money?" TJ asked after they sat down.

"Don't worry about all that," JoJo said, catching his breath. "Just worry about your clothes."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Looking down, Tj finaly got see what he was wearing. A pair of blue jeans with holes ripped at the knees, and a black shirt with a comic book styled 'BAM' written in red. "There's nothing wrong with it. What about your clothes? Tripp pants? Really JoJo?"

"Don't judge me."

**~*~V~*~**

"Okay, so where are we goin'?"

"To a friend of mine."

"The fuck? The point of breaking out is to NOT get caught. Are you crazy?"

An hour of bus travel passed and the two boys made it to Third Street. The sun was rising, and the two of them were stretching from the long night they had been through. JoJo yawned as he followed TJ walking down the sidewalk. With their new clothes the two of them were a lot less worried about being spotted; TJ because of his hair being a completely different color, and JoJo because he wasn't from around there.

"Don't worry, he won't tell," TJ assured him. "I hope. But we gotta make a stop at my house first," He said stopping and facing the house they we in front of: his. "I need to know something. Stay here."

"You're the boss," Said JoJo, taking out his pack of cigarettes. Walking toward the garage, TJ looked for the ladder that always sat outside against the house. Finding it he set it against the house right under the window where his bedroom was. Reaching the top, he peeked through his window expecting everything inside to either be the same as the day he left or cleaned.

Instead, the room looked completely different. With a fresh coat of baby blue paint, clean carpet, and new furniture, it looked nothing like his room. What caught it attention was the white crib sitting in the corner and the toddler standing up inside of it shaking the raddle in his hands.

Speechless, TJ climbed down the ladder and returned to JoJo on the sidewalk.

"What happened?" JoJo asked.

"Nothing," TJ told him. "Everything's just _perfect_. Just fucking perfect!" Marching down the sidewalk in ager, he kicked anything that was in his path to show the world how angry he was. "Things couldn't get more perfect than they are now!"

'I can't believe they replaced me! They _replaced_ me! I bet they couldn't wait to replace me when I was gone!" He raged inside his head. "I bet they have a perfect family now! A mom, a dad, a daughter and son! Of course they have a son in juvie, but they just pretend he doesn't exist, because they don't want to claim that little bastard! _He's just a burden we'd rather not think about! And if we don't have to take care of him then who cares! To hell with him!_'

"GODAMMIT!" He shouted, kicking a nearby trashcan down the street.

"You gonna draw attention to yourself if don't be quiet," JoJo warned.

"Sorry," TJ said. "I'm just so mad right now! I just…I just wanna light something on fire! I can't believe they did that…."

"I don't mean to draw attention away from what's pissing you off, but are we there yet?" JoJo asked him. "We've stopped after you kicked the trashcan." Looking up from the ground, TJ looked at the house he and JoJo were standing in front of. Now that the sun was risen and there was enough light to see everything, he recognized the house instantly.

"Yeah, we're here," TJ said, walking towards the front door. "C'mon. We can get something to eat. I'm starving." Ringing the doorbell, the boys waited for the door to open. When no one came to open the door, TJ pushed the doorbell again. This time, the door opened seconds later and TJ was faced with a very irate looking Prickly.

"Detweiler," The former principal said, barely keeping his anger down. "What do you think you're doing _breaking out of Duval?_"

"You know about that, huh?" TJ asked.

"Of course I do! It's all over the news! People aren't going to work and parents aren't little their kids go to school because of it! People around here are locking their doors and windows because they're expecting you to come around here!"

"Oh. Well the only house I want to go inside of is yours,' Said TJ. "So can we come in?"

"We? You bought others?"

"Just JoJo," He said, point to JoJo standing next to him. "He's harmless, and we're only staying for an hour tops."

"I'd be harboring a fugitive."

"I don't think anyone know we're here," Said TJ. "And we only want to get something to eat. Please?"

'Please?' JoJo thought. 'Punk.'

"…alright," Prickly said, letting them come in. "I'm going to hate myself for doing this."

"What's the worst that can happen?" TJ asked him and he and JoJo rushed to the kitchen and started looking for food.

"I get arrested for letting you in my house," Prickly said.

"We won't be here that long, promise," TJ told him. "We just wanna eat." He and JoJo rummaged through the refrigerator, putting leftovers on plates and heating them p in the microwaves as they munched violently on fruit as they waited. It might've been cold, but it was the best food the two of them tasted in what seemed to be forever.

"So are you going to tell me exactly why you chose to break out?" Prickly asked his former student. "I would like to know since my fridge is getting cleaned out by the two of you."

"Just 'cause," TJ said, chewing on an apple. "We were bored. And I promise a friend of mine that he would get to see someone. I owed him one. I owe him a lot more, too."

"Detweiler, you know you're going to get caught eventually, and when you do you're going to get in trouble. Why don't you just put an end to all this and turn yourself in?"

"No way!" TJ protested with a mouth full of spaghetti. "It took me weeks to plan that break out and all night to get here! And you want me to throw it away like it's nothing? I'd rather keep running and get caught than turn myself in!"

"If you don't turn yourself in, you're going to be behind bars much longer than you're supposed to," Prickly warned him. "You can get in serious trouble for doing this! Just cut your losses and let me call the police."

"I hate it in there," TJ said. "I'd rather live on the lamb for the rest of my life than go back there!"

"I think he's right," JoJo calmly said after swallowing a bite of cake. "Let's just cut our losses Freckles. They're gonna find us. Rather go out with dignity than like a sucker. The others are probably caught already anyways."

"…alright, fine. I'll turn myself in," TJ said with a huff. "How do you do that?"

"I have my ways," said the former principal. "But I'll be merciful and let you finish eating."

"Thanks, sir."

After eating for thirty minutes straight and eating just about everything in Prickly's fridge, TJ said it was okay for him to call the police to come and get him. TJ didn't want to go back; the idea sent shivers up his spine. But he knew that he would get caught sooner or later and couldn't run forever. And when he did get caught, his sentence would get extended to the point where he would be questioning whether or not it was worth it. It was like JoJo said, he'd rather go out with dignity than like a sucker. He knew from the beginning that it would probably end like this, and was ready when the police came, surrounded the house, and brought him and JoJo out in handcuffs.

As he was lead by the officers to a police car he saw that the whole neighborhood had come out to see what was going on. Luckily, it was no one he recognized. He and JoJo were put into separate cars as a precaution and they started their journey back to Duval, where the others were waiting for him.

* * *

><p><strong>So I didn't know when I named this chapter and the last one that there was a song with the same name by a group called the Gorillaz (pretty nice group too, the song, not so much). <strong>

**Donna Nnov: I think you should write that story, even though it sounds a lot like mine in areas. I just wanna know what would happen So bad and it sounds like it would be awesome. Just my opinion. And Googly :P Somewhere I heard 'googly specs' and it sounded so funny to me that I just had to add that somewhere in the story.**

**Reviews are highly appreciated! **


	32. Derezzed

**Yes, I named this chapter after song by Daft Punk. What of it?**

**Finally, I get to a point in the story that I asked the readers to help me out with a long time ago. You all will see what it is when you start reading.**

**Go Forth, and Read On!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Just when you think things are getting better, it get worse. I hate when that happens. Like today. It wasn't so much like it was bad, more like 'why would they let this happen'?_

_But we're handling it just fine. Missed a few days of working, but I don't know if that's bad or good. Bad because I didn't make any money, good because I'm not getting fucked. I'm going back to drug dealing…._

**~*~V~*~**

"JoJo get up."

"…..mmmm…"

"C'mon, I gotta start working and you have to leave…"

Arriving back at Duval through an escort from the police, TJ found that in a strange way that he missed the place. The grey walls, cement floors, and metal bars felt like home. Even the rank smell that I had after it rained; he missed it, and felt a sort of relief when he was back in his room.

But he knew that the next day meant red, orange, and yellow bracelets on his arm getting snapped and he accepted it as a necessary evil. Currently, TJ was trying to wake JoJo up so that he could get start working. Nothing was more awkward than having a customer in the room while your roommate is still there and he was trying to avoid that. But JoJo was ignoring him completely.

"Go 'way Freckles," JoJo mumbled, rolling over in his bed. "M'tired…"

"You've been tired ever since we got back here! Can you at least be out in an hour?" TJ asked him. "I wanna get this work over with early."

"….mmm…."

Grabbing a book from his shelf, TJ left the room, leaving JoJo by himself. He understood why his roommate _would _ be tired after breaking out and travelling across the state, but it's been a week since that happened, and thins should return to normal. Blowing it off, he sat door next to Bandit at their usual table and flipped through the pages of the new book he checked out of the library.

Day's ago he finished reading the other book he had forgotten to check out, the Torah. And he had mixed opinions about it. With nothing else better to do (the other choices being doing drugs, what is essentially prostitution, and going bat-shit insane) he wanted to form an opinion about that book, but found that he would have to read more books covering the topic of religion, or other religions. Scanning through the library he picked up the closest book he could find on the subject, and starting reading it. Being written in English, TJ found it easier to read and was hoping to get through it by the end of the week, though he knew that might be a bit of a stretch.

"What'sha readin'?" Bandit asked him.

"The Buddhavacana," Said TJ. "Did I say that right? I'm only reading it out of boredom. Guess I'm kinda looking for a new religion too or something like that…..I read the Torah, you know, that other book I had. It's okay, but there are parts I don't like. I don't know what to think of it so I'm reading other books until I can. But what I'm worried about is this drug business getting back on its feet."

"I'm working on it," Specs said. "There's already people in here selling meth, so we have to sell something stronger. Maybe ecstasy or LSD…I think heroin would be the easiest to make…."

"LSD makes you trip balls," Bandit said offhandedly. "Where's JoJo?"

"He's sleeping," TJ said. "He's been sleeping since we got back. Maybe after sleeping all day today he'll get off his ass."

"He's been sleeping since we all came back?" Specs asked. "That doesn't sound good. He's in your guys room, right?" TJ closed his book and followed the goggled boy into his room where JoJo was still lying in on his back.

"Freckles," JoJo whined. "Did I get hit by a truck?"

"He's being a drama queen," TJ told Specs. "He's probably just mad 'cause we got sent back here right after getting out and now he's wallowing in his own self-pity."

"I feel like I got hit by a truck…. And it's running me over…"

"You two go outside, I'll see if I can find what's wrong with him," Specs told them. "If anything….."

"He's faking," TJ said as he walked out of the cell.

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"IF THAT POWERPUFF DARES TO _TOUCH_ ME I'LL KNOCK HER AND HER PRISSY-ASS FRIENDS INTO THE NEXT STATE!"

Being dragged away from an extremely interested crowd by her friends to avoid causing any more damage and to attempt from getting into any more trouble, Ashley Spinelli tried to break free of her friends grasp in order to lunge at the bleeding Ashley A. in the middle of the crowd. After having a particularly bad day filled with disappointment after disappointment, Spinelli was not longer able to hold back her anger as the leader of the Ashley's made a comment about the clothes she was wearing, and reacted via a swift punch making contact with the other girls nose, possibly breaking it and causing it to bleed.

The crowd around them that had gathered to watch how the confrontation would turn out (thought they all knew that someone was going to bleed by the time it was over but that it wasn't going to be Spinelli), believed that Ashley had it coming to her. The Ashley's had gained a reputation of being quite the little group of pretentious bitches and everyone wanted to see them get what was coming to them. But at the same time they didn't want it to come from the fist-wielding warrior for one simple reason.

"C'mon, Spin! You know you can't get in a fight again or you can get arrested!" Vince told her as he tried to pull her away from the center of the crowd. Being on the basketball and Football teams, he was most likely the only person in the school physically capable of restraining her, but it still proved to be a hard thing to do.

"The bitch was asking for it!" Spinelli yelled. "Who the hell does she think she is criticizing me when she's the school whore! You better watch your back Armbruster 'cause as soon as your guard is down I'm coming after you with intent to kill!" Seeing that she wasn't going to be able to seek revenge at the moment, she took a few deep breathes before visibly calming down. "Okay, I'm calm. You can let go now."

"Are you sure? I don't want you go and beat her up when I let go."

"I said I'm fine! You can let go now, Vince," Spinelli said with a huff. After being let go she balled her fists to resist the urge to run over and finish what was started. "Let's get out of here before I get in troubl—" She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Principal Wartz approaching the scene.

~*~V~*~

"This is the fifth fight you have gotten in this year, Ms. Spinelli. How do you explain that?"

"Oh, come on! You didn't even see the whole thing!"

Standing in the principal's office along with Ashley A. who held a large amount of tissue to her nose, Spinelli tried to think quick and come up with a way to talk herself out of getting expelled. She had been warned in her last four fights that one more would lead to her either getting expelled or arrested, depending on the severity of it. She came close last year with four fights, and took up boxing as an outlet for her anger, but whether that helped or harmed was up for debate.

"You don't even know the whole story and your about to blame me for everything that happened!" She said, forcing her frustration down.

"I do know that one of my students has a bleeding nose that might be broken, and one student who is capable of doing that," Said Wartz. "Did you or did you not punch Ms. Armbruster in the nose?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything!"

"See, she, likes, totally admits it!" Ashley A. said pointing an accusing finger. "I demand that she be suspended, like, immediately! My safety is in danger!"

'Your face is going to be in danger if you don't back off,' Spinelli thought, stopping herself from saying it out loud.

"Ms. Armbruster, I can handle this," The principal said. "Ms. Spinelli, I just want to know, what do you think your punishment should be?"

"A slap on the wrist?" Spinelli suggested with a smile.

"How about three weeks suspension."

"THREE WEEKS?"

"Would you rather be expelled?" principal Wartz warned.

"No, sir…"

"Good. The two you can leave. And try not to get in another fight before you get out of school…"

"Just so you know, I'm totally pressing charges," Ashley A. said as they left the office. "Your going to pay for this _Spin-ugly_."

**~*~DUVAL~*~**

Running his fingers through his hair, TJ tried to understand the text that was in front of him. Only twenty pages in and he was motivated to stop reading and find another book to read. All of it reminded him of what was written in another book he had to read for a class. It was a history class, but for some reason the teach assigned them "Plato and Platypus Walk Into a Bar….." to read.

"Ugh…" TJ said putting his on the table. "This is too much at once….I'm taking a break…"

"Scurvy." Turning around in his seat TJ saw Specs standing behind him. "It's scurvy."

"What's scurvy?" TJ asked.

"A severe lack of Vitamin C," Specs answered. "It feels like a really, really, really bad flu with pneumonia. You basically feel like shit."

"Oh. So he'll be alright won't he? He's not gonna die or anything like that, right?"

"No, he'll be fine," Specs told him. "But he critically needs vitamin C or he won't be. Go to the commissary and by a crate of orange juice, and if they have any get a couple of bottles of Vitamin C supplements. In fact, me and Bandit will go with you. We all have the same diet so he could be at risk for it too."

"Why do I gotta go?" Bandit whined.

"Stop whining," TJ said as he pulled him along. "Let's get this over with. You can help me carry this stuff." The trio made their way to the line for the commissary. It was long like on every other day, and they expected to wait a half an hour to get to the front. Getting in the back of the line TJ was shocked when everyone looked at the three of them and moved out of the way to let them move to the front before anyone else.

"What's all this about…?" TJ asked as he and the others walked to the front of the line. "Why are they doing this for us?"

"They aren't doing it for us," Bandit said matter-of-factly. "They're doing it for _you_."

"Me? Why me?"

"Probably because you came up with the idea to break them out of here," Said Bandit. "It was only for a day but it was one hell of a day. They appreciate that you did that for them,"

"It's no big deal really. But if I get cuts in line because of it then by all means," TJ said as they reached the front of the line. "Do you guys have orange juice back there?" The cashier nodded. "Can I get a crate of it? And two bottles of those vitamins too." Once the cashier came back with everything TJ handed him the debt card he was given when he arrived. Instead of charging him, the cashier gave him his card back.

"It's on the house," Said the cashier.

"Oh shit, we get free stuff too?" Bandit asked, excited. "Can I get that boom box back there? And all the cherry Airheads you've got."

"I can't believe you did that," TJ scolded Bandit as they made their way back to his and JoJo's room. "Just 'cause we're getting stuff for free that doesn't mean you get everything."

"Yes it does," Bandit protested. "Why would you not? If we don't have to spend our money then I'm not going to. And I'm going to live as comfortably as a can."

"Whatever. I gotta get this stuff to JoJo," Said TJ carrying the crate of oranes juice and vitamins towards his room. "Anything else I need to know?"

"You need to watch him for the next few days to make sure he actually drinks it," Specs said. "Make him drink a little now, let him sleep for a while, then wake him up to drink more and take one of those pills. Keep doing that until tomorrow."

'Looks like I'm not working,' TJ said as he entered the room. "You awake JoJo?"

"Mmm-hmm," The bedridden boy said.

"You have to drink this," TJ said handing over a bottle of orange juice. "It'll make you get better. Did Specs tell you it's scurvy?"

"Yeah," JoJo said before bringing the bottle to his lips and drinking heavily from it. "M'really tired…."

"I have to stay here to make sure nothing happens while you sleep," Said TJ. "All you have to do is sleep and drink orange juice for the next few days."

"Can you close the door? The noise outside is giving me a headache…."

"I'll try to de as quiet as I can while I'm in here," TJ told him after closing the door. "I'm just gonna be doing homework. That won't bother you, will it?"

"Nope."

**~*~V~*~**

"One month at the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center."

"_WHAT?"_

After finding that Ashley A. had full intention on pressing charges for assault, Spinelli hoped for the lightest possible punishment, but at the same time knew that wasn't likely with her background of fights. The punishment she was expecting was a couple hundred hours of community service, or at the very worse, having to apologize to the person charging her. The whole trial only took two days, one to hear both sides and the other to hear the sentencing (if any at all). She had the support of Gretchen, Vince, Gus, Mikey, and half of the high school, and they were hoping with her that she wouldn't get a stiff punishment; most of them were in the courtroom to hear what the verdict was. Upon hearing the outcome and sentence, the entire room gasped in shock.

"You heard me," Said the judge. "One month at Duval. If you didn't want to get punished you shouldn't have gotten in trouble. Court is adjourned."

"Have fun in juvie," Ashley A. said as her and her lawyer left the court room.

"How are they going to send me to juvie? There has to be something illegal with this," Spinelli insisted as she and the others sat outside the courtroom as the remaining paperwork was handled.

"Look on the bright side. It's only a month," Mikey said in an attempt to lighten her mood. "At least you're not in there until you're 18."

"But it's still a month," Spinelli said. "It's going to be the longest month of my life!"

"It's shouldn't be so bad," Gretchen told her. "And besides, you know we're going to visit you and write."

"Yeah but visitors only going to be a few times out of the month," Said Spinelli. "But at least I can keep in contact. This is all Ashley A.'s fault!"

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Can't say I'm too surprised to see you five here." Looking up, the group saw an unusually well-dressed Francis, formerly known as the Hustler Kid, approaching them. "What'sha in for, Spinelli? Assault?"

"What else would it be?" Spinelli said, unhappiness dripping from her voice. "What about you? What are you here for?"

"I got caught selling some stuff that isn't exactly legal," He said. "I'm here for the sentencing. Have you been sentenced yet?"

"Yep. I'm going to the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center for a month," She told him. "Sucks, huh?"

"_DUVAL?_" Francis repeated, all the blood draining from his face. After hearing what her answer was he looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "You're going to _Duval?_"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Did you forget who's **in **Duval?" Francis asked. The five of them looked as if they didn't have a clue. "You know, he wore a red hat and you used to hang out with him but then he went bat-shit insane and tortured us before lighting Third Street on fire? _TJ?_"

"….oh shit."

"If the judge in there is sending kids to Duval I hope I get sent to a prison instead," Francis told them. "I'm not trying to fuck with THAT guy. I gotta go in, see you guys later."

"…I'm sure they separate the boys from the girls," Gus said breaking the silence that fell over the five of them after Francis left.

"That doesn't do much to curb my concern," Said Spinelli. "You don't think he's still mad, do you?"

"It's possible," Gretchen said. "He held grudges before he went there so he could still be holding one against us. He could even be planning to seek revenge once he's released. We're lucky he didn't get to do anything when he broke out a week ago. But like Gus said, they most likely separate the girls from the boys, so you two probably won't see each other."

"I guess so. But can you blame me if I'm worried?"

The other for shook their heads.

**~*~TJ's POV ~*~**

"Freckles?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a thunderstorm outside…."

"Right…."

I don't see why he afraid of thunderstorms. Sure they're little loud, but it's nothing to be afraid of. But I guess everyone has their own fears and their own ways of coping with them. And since we're looking out for one another I gotta help. Since JoJo is too weak to get out of bed without any help, I got out of my bed and crawled into his. Our beds, like the rest of the bed in this place, are built exactly the same way; cold and functional, not warm and comfortable like we used to have at home. It's amazing what you can get used to in here. The food, the school, the people. Everything. I'm used to it. I dunno if that's sad or just me adapting to the situation.

As soon as a crawled into his bed he grabbed my upper arm. It helps him to not jump out of bed every time thunder bangs a little too close for his liking. This bed is barely big enough for the two of us, but we manage. Thunder claps, and he doesn't move, but squeezes my arm instead. I think he's too weak to do even jump in fear. It hurts a little though, when squeezed my arm. His hand are right over the cuts that only him and I know are there. Most of them are healing, and few of them are new, but that's just on this arm.

….

….I'm not depressed, I swear. I'm not one of those emo pussies.

It's just…It makes me feel better sometimes. I don't do it every day. Just when I'm having one of those days when I'm feeling so much emotion that I can't handle it.

….

…..Those days aren't often.

Okay, maybe I'm a little depressed. Just a little bit. Like 1 percent depressed, 99 percent fine. Yeah, that's more like it. I still think about suicide though, especially this time of year. It's suicidal September again, so I can't help it. I wonder though on some days what's keeping me from doing it again. I could probably do it right this time and not wake up.

Running my fingers over the scar left from the time I tried suicide I winced at the minor pain it caused. I remember what it felt like. I swore someone was _stabbing _me in my wrist cause there was no way a cut could cause that much pain. I regret doing it that way. Maybe if I try it again I'll remember to make it quick and painless.

"Don't try to kill yourself again, Freckles," JoJo said. "It's not worth it. Don't give them the satisfaction of defeating you." How does he know what I'm thinking?

"Who's 'them'?" I asked.

"The people who put you in here," He said. "The people who don't want anything to do with you. The people who won't visit you, or give you the time of day. The people who would rather see you dead than rehabilitated. Don't give them the satisfaction of defeating you. Don't let them win. I wanted to kill myself when I came here too. I wanted to take a knife and stab it through my heart. I wanted to do it so _bad_. But I didn't 'cause I'd be giving up the fight, I can't stand giving up, and promised my brother I'd see him again when I got out. He's dead. My little brother is dead. He got hit by a car two years ago and nobody bothered to tell me. But I still ain't giving up because that's what everyone wants. You can't give up Freckles. You have to stay alive and get out of here and show the world what you're made of. Don't go out like that. It's not worth it. Okay?"

"I wasn't planning to," TJ said. "But okay."

Here he goes with his big speeches. I used to make big speeches too. Quit that habit a long time ago. But I wasn't thinking of trying suicide, just _about_ it.

…Thunder banged, and I got a cold chill up my spine. I have a weird feeling that something going to happen really soon. Not to me, but _something_.

Hope it's something good.

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: Of course I am. :D I always do, don't I? But like everything, you're going to have to wait to see it. It'll happen, just not soon.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	33. Sex Sells

**Spring break is over. D: I was hoping to get this up last weekend but when I got back to school I remember how far behind I was and shrieked in horror. Like all things, it has to come to an end, sadly. Updates on the weekend as usual, folks**

**This chapter takes place the net day after the last, just for reference.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Fuck. My. Life._

_Seriously._

**~*~V~*~**

Upon waking up, the sound of everyone outside TJ knew that it was louder than normal. Since JoJo was still fast asleep it didn't seem to bother him, and TJ figured it wasn't an issue to worry much about. But it was still loud, as if the population inside increase overnight. He knew that wasn't possible, so he thought that there was something going on outside that was making everyone be as loud as they were.

Getting free from JoJo's grasp, TJ made sure he didn't disturb the ill inmate. Once he was on his feet he walked outside to see what was happening. Bandit and Specs were standing nearby, waiting for him to come out. Closing the door he stood between the two and looked out to the rest of the dorm to see that there was indeed an increase of the population due to the girls being led in by the guards.

"Dude, what's with all the females?" He asked no one in particular.

"I dunno, but the rumor going around is that the girls are staying in here," Bandit said. "It sucks though because there's barely enough room for all the guys. How are they gonna fit us all?"

"None of them are staying in my room," TJ said as he turned to return to is room. "Forget that."

"No one said anything about staying in your stinkin' 'ol room!" Turning back around, TJ looked for the source of the insult and saw Veronica and her friends approaching. "Wouldn't wanna stay with you anyways! Punk!"

"Good then!" TJ shot back. "Don't need any girls ruining someone's good time! That's all you girls ever do!"

"Fuck you, Freckles!" Veronica said jokingly while giving him a light punch in the arm. "Where's JoJo? I got somethin' for him."

"He's out of commission," TJ told her. "He's got scurvy and has to stay in bed for a while. No visitors and I'm supposed to watch him until he's better. I'm not even supposed to be out here; I'm just going to the commissary."

"How about I give you a break and watch him?" She offered. "Me and him need to have a talk."

"Alright. But don't talk for long, he needs to sleep," TJ instructed. "And make sure that he drinks his orange juice and take one of those supplements next to the crate. And close the door so the noise doesn't bother him 'cause it gives him a headache—"

"Okay, _mom_, I got it," Veronica said cutting him off and walking past him. "Actin' like you two married or somethin'….."

"But really though, what's going on?" TJ asked the others.

"Remember when we flushed a cherry bomb down the toilet," Googly said. "To get to the pipe to fix it they have to dig but then they found out they have to get to a pipe underneath or dorm and we can't stay in there while they're fixing it. It'll be month."

"Guess it won't be so bad," He said looking around. "They're two older dorms in this building right? It's not much more crowded than usual…..but still. Need to get the edge off. Anyone got any drugs?"

"I got the greatest drug of all," Bandit said, heading to his room. "Just let me get my boom box."

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"….I-It doesn't look so bad…"

"_So_ bad?"

Spinelli and Francis looked outside the window as the van carrying them to Duval entered the campus. The buildings looked clean enough to rid any thought of the place being an actual jail for minors, but the barbed wire fence reminded them that it was their home for the next month. Just passing the gate gave them an ominous feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Francis said as he sat back in his seat. Much to his dismay he wasn't lucky enough to get sent to prison for his sentence and was sent to Duval. "Can you blame me for trying? I'm probably going to die in there!"

"He won't try to kill you. Beat you into a pulp maybe," Spinelli offered. "But he won't _kill_ you…I think."

"Do you not remember him killing that one kid? It was all over the news!"

"This isn't like you, dude. You're usually calmer than everyone else."

"Yeah but that was before I knew I was going into the devils den," He said. "You're luckily; you're gonna stay with the girls!" The car abruptly stopped, ending their conversation. The door opened, and they were ordered out by the officer and guard. They were led into the building in front of them and told (rather loudly) the ground rules to avoid getting trouble with the guards. After that they were separated and taken into offices were their pictures were taken, told to bathe with the delousing shampoo and to put on their uniforms. The two of them expected to stay separated believing that the girls and boys were housed apart from one another, but saw each other again when the guards brought them into the same hallway and told them to sit on the same bench.

"What'd you think they brought us here for?" Francis asked.

"I dunno," Said Spinelli. "Maybe their trying to find us somewhere to say."

"Hey, on my way over here I passed this window that saw into one of the places that they keep the inmates," said the hustler.

"Really? Did you see TJ?"

"I tried to look for him, but I couldn't spot him out of the crowd," He said. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Just be careful if you get you find out you two are in the same dorms. And what are the chances that you two will get the same room?"

"Small, but just having the _possibility_ scares me."

"You two, let's go," Said the guards watching them. He waved for them to stand up and follow him down the hall. "There's a problem in the girl's dorm with the pipes, so for the next few months the girls are housing with the boys. There aren't enough spare rooms for all the girls, so at night we're bringing out cots for them to sleep in. It's not much, but it's not like we're going out of our way to make you junior convicts comfortable. Not on my tax dollar. Alright here we are." They stopped in front of a large metal door. The guard took a set of keys attached to his belt and sort through for the one needed to unlock the door.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Bandit's such a music buff. It's good though, 'cause I doubt that anything else could make people get along like they are now.

It's like the whole racial divide stop existing once he put the music on. You can't even tell that there was one, 'cause everyone's dancing and talking to each other. Finally. I wasn't part of the tension but you could feel it as soon as you step foot outside your room.

It's a good song to. I think Bandit said the album is called 'Discovery.' I'm putting that on my list of things to get when I get out of here. I'm not dancing though. It's not that I don't want to, but I'd rather watch others interact with each other.

Specs is dancing with Googly. Saw that coming from a mile away. Bandit's sitting near his boom box listening to the music. JoJo's still stuck in his room with Veronica. I hope the music isn't bothering him.

…..I don't think I'll be needed for my…..'services' since the girls are here now. They can just go fuck one of them instead of improvising. At least for a month. Jesus, I must've slept with half of the guys in here.

…

….I'm such a slut.

I closed my eyes and reached into my pocket to pull out my pack of cigarettes (If anyone judges me for smoking they have no idea what t's like in here), but someone yanked my arm and pulled me from the wall I was leaning against and wrapped their arm around my waist. When I looked to see who it was I saw that it was none other than Tommy Gun, and he had a tight grip on me.

Shit.

"Haven't seen you in while," He said. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing you need to know about," I said. "Lemme go."

"Aw, c'mon. I just wanna dance," He said. "Come dance with me. I know you want to."

"Why would I want to do anything with you?" I snapped at him. "You beat the shit out of me when I came here and you blinded me in one eye. I don't want anything to do with you!" He's not even looking at me right now. He's looking at my arm and ran his fingers up and down where I wore those bracelets.

"Where's your bracelets?" He asked him.

"None of your business," I said. "I'm not wearing them."

"That's too bad," He said. "I would've paid triple the price for the red ones." See? I just _knew_ he was going to say some shit like that. I was just waiting for it, and here it is. But really though, I can't tell if he's actually hitting on me, or if it's just a joke. But I'm not taking my chances.

"I wouldn't take you as a customer anyways," I told him after pushing him off of me. "Asshole." I turned and headed towards my room to get away from him (I really didn't need this right now), but I felt him pull me back by my sides and press my back against his chest. I swear to God, if I had my knife on me I'd shank him.

"Now what's wrong with me?" He whispered in my ear. "I'm just tryin' to have a good time."

"Then good find one of the girls!"

"Who said I wanted one of the girls, you stupid boy?" Okay, I'm done. I'm done. Done. This bastard wants to die, he really does. Fuck this shit. Sending my elbow backwards I hit him in the chest and he let go right away without a word. "Fine, be that way." He said before walking away. Dammit. I need something from the commissary. I started to make why way through the crowd of dancing and talking people to get there; as much as want to get something to calm my nerves I don't want to ruin what's going on. It's relaxing, or at least as relaxing at it could be. As a walked past the door that led to the rest of building I felt someone pull my arm towards them. If it's that bastard again I swear I'm gonna…

Oh, it's just a guard. With some new inmates. And he's going to say….

"Show these two around," Said the guard. "Help them get their stuff and tell them the rules."

"And YOU can't do that because…?"

"Because I said so," He told me before walking away. Jesus Christ. Alright, let's just get this over with. Who do I have? Some short chick and a punk. The girl looks kinda familiar, but who the hell cares? This bitch isn't gonna ruin my day. Neither is the punk. I bet he thinks he's tough. Fuck with me and I'll show him who's tough.

"Are gonna stand there all day or are you gonna help us get out stuff?" The girl snapped at me. _This_ bitch is asking to get smacked.

"Come with me," I said, turning around and walking towards the commissary. I turned my head to see if they were following; they were. But they were looking at me in a weird way too. What's their problem? We reached the line to the commissary, and just like yesterday everyone got out of my way so I could go to the front. "C'mon," I told them. When we made it to the front of the line I motioned for them to go to the window. "Tell them your name and you'll get your uniforms and books and stuff." I leaned against the wall and waited for them to get their stuff. I still have to do more after this. Can't ever do want I wanna do…..

"What's your last name?" The Cashier asked the girl.

"Spinelli."

Hold the fuck up. _Spinelli?_ This bitch. Hell no.

I'm gonna end up killing her before her sentence is over. That's how pissed I am at her. And the others. But she's the only one here. God, please help me resist the urge to kill her. I don't ask for a lot, but I can't do this on my own and will commit a second murder if I don't have some back up.

"What's your last name?" The cashier asked the other guy. Wonder who he is.

"Chaff."

Chaff, Chaff. Do I know a Chaff? Sounds familiar…Wait, _Hustler Kid?_ Figures he would end up in juvie. It's _Hustle Kid_ for Christ sake. Bet he's in for selling drugs. I'd bet all $50,000 on my card that's what it is. And _why_ are they looking at me like that?

"What?" I asked the two of them.

"That guard said you were going to show us around," said. Spinelli. "Where are we saying?"

"Hell if I know," I told her. "Find your own roommate. That's how I got mine and everyone else got theirs."

"O-kay…." She said. "So what are the rules of this place?"

"Mind your own damn business and you'll be fine," I said turning away from them. "That's it."

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

"Whatever," Spinelli mumbled. "Let's go, Francis. We've got more important things to do."

"Like what?" Francis asked as he followed her. "What've we gotta do?"

"I just wanted to get away from him," Spinelli said as she sat her box down against the wall and sat on it. "That guy has an attitude problem. Who does he think he is? Does he think that he's tough with that scar across his eye?"

"If I learned anything from my career as a hustler, it's that I'm not taking chances on something like that," He told her. "Just let it go, Spinelli. What we should be doing is figuring out where Detweiler is." Spinelli nodded. The two of them agreed on their way to Duval that the first thing that they would do once they arrive is to find the little menace that caused them so much trouble while he was a Third Street. It wasn't so much as they wanted to taunt him, but to know where he was to avoid him knowing that the two of them were there. Without a doubt he still had to be angry at_ everyone _at Third Street, and with them available, would harm them in every way that he could.

"How about we just people watch and see if we can spot him out of the crowd," Spinelli suggested. "I'm tired after the ride here." Dropping his box down next to hers, Francis joined her. "Okay, what do you see?"

"I see…..a bunch of people dancing. Guess I'm looking for a brown haired, freckled guy. I see a couple of guys with brown hair, but none of them have freckles…none of them look like Detweiler either."

"You're seeing the same thing as me. We're getting nowhere with this….."

"How about we ask the blonde guy?" Francis suggested.

"That jerk? He acts like we're such a bother to him!" said Spinelli.

"What've we got to lose?" Francis asked as he got off the box. He grabbed Spinelli's hand and pulled her to her feet and walked towards the person that helped them get their things. When they found him he was still leaning against the same pillar he was earlier.

"What do _you_ scrubs want?" He snapped at them.

"We were just wondering if you knew this guy in here," Francis asked him. "His name's TJ Detweiler. Do you know him?"

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

You've got to be kidding me. They're asking me for _me_. I'm right in front of them! Are they blind or just stupid? I need a cigarette….

Oh wait….

I'm blonde now.

And I have this scar….

And my left eye is almost a completely different color…

So they _wouldn't_ recognize me. Then what do I say? Hmm….I could have some fun with this, since they don't know hwo I am. I'm bored anyways. I want some excitement and they're right on time.

"Yeah I know them," I said, keeping my eyes on the crowd.

"So where is he?" Spinelli asked.

"That kid died," I told them. "'bout a year after he came in here. Just died."

"No he didn't!" She said, pointing an accusing finger. "We saw him on the news killing another guy in here! And that was more than a year after he was sent here."

"I meant on the inside," I said calmly as I moved her finger out of my face. "He's dead on the inside. Doesn't say anything or do anything. He just exists. It's like he's not even there. I dunno what he was like before he came here but he's a shell of his former self and wants out of this place. I wouldn't go looking for him. He's long gone. He wouldn't be anything like the guy _you_ know, however you think of him. Or maybe that's just me being paranoid."

"That's just great," Spinelli said, ignoring everything I just said. Twat. "Can you tell us where he is?"

"Even if I did, he would get up and move away from you; he doesn't talk to anybody. So it's pointless," I said. "It's not like he's here anyways."

"Let's go, Francis," She said marching away. "This _prick_ isn't going to tell us anything! Thanks a lot, asshole!" Watching the two of them walk away I smiled. Just when I was crazing that same mischievousness I felt back at Third Street, this happens. I _have_ to do something with these two. If I don't ill regret it for the rest of my life. But what?

…..Whatever it is, I know it's gonna be good.

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><p><strong>Hmm…..guess I have nothing to say…<strong>

**Oh wait, yes I do! :D So what are you guys expecting to happen? I already have a few (one) idea, but I want to know what's going on in your heads! I might actually use it..**

**Please Review!**


	34. The Game Has Changed

**Oh! Two updates! I'm on a roll! And my fingers hurt….**

**But I got five weeks to go before school lets out in April and that makes me incredibly happy. April 26 is the last day I think. Then it's all just free time….free time….**

**TJ's still 15 years old. He'll be turning 16 soon, but not yet.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"You got that look on your face like you up to somethin'."<p>

Pacing back and forth in the limited space that the room he and JoJo shared provided, TJ tried to sort through the ideas that were running through his mind. It's been a few day since two of his former classmates arrived, and until they left, he wanted to mess with them a little. The question though was how?

"Of course I'm up to something," TJ said. "We go two new scrubs yesterday, and you know what?"

"No, what?"

"I used to go to school with those two, before I got locked up. I was more of an acquaintance of one of them, but I used to be good friends with the other, and that bitch testified against me in court. So yeah I'm up to something! But they don't know that I'm me. They don't recognize me at all! They're looking for me and everything, but don't know that I'm who they're looking for."

"So what you have in mind?" JoJo asked him.

"I'm gonna give them what they want," TJ said with a twisted smile. "Exactly what they want. They want _me_, as in the old me, then that's what I'll give 'em. I want to know what they want with me anyways. But I need to know something. Do you know how high I am on the social totem pole in here?"

"You? Think you're right under the highest person in here. Second place just for break us out," JoJo explained.

"So who number one?"

"Don't worry 'bout all that," He said. "Just worry 'bout your stuff."

"Okay, so I'm number two. What does that mean?"

"Mean's everyone knows to stay the fuck out of your way and give you what you want as long as number one says it's okay."

"So that's why all the others let me go to the front of the line," TJ mumbled. "Okay. Thanks, JoJo."

"No problem. Just keep me updated on what's goin' on out there. It ain't fun being trapped in my bed."

"I'll try my best. I gotta go find one of the girls. You're gonna be okay in here by yourself? I know you're going stir crazy in here….."

"Nah, I'm good. Go do what you gotta do."

**~*~TJ"S POV~*~**

Stepping out of my room I looked around. Nothing unusual, except for the girls being here. But still, everything's relatively normal. People are hanging out, talking, gambling, all that stuff. The guys are at the table, the girls are with them too. Good; I'll need them if I want to do what I have in mind. I don't want Spinelli and Francis (more so Spinelli than Francis) to know I'm me. Not while I look like this. I need to look like I did before I bleached my hair blonde and got this scar…

"Hey," I said approaching the table. They all looked up to me.

"What's going on, Freckles?" Veronica asked me.

"Not to stereotype you as a girl or anything, but do you know how to do make-up?" I asked her.

"Why? You wanna cover that ugly scar?" She teased.

"Yeah I do. Think you can do that for me?"

"I might be able to help you out," She said, standing up from her seat. "Maybe. I might not be able to though. Never did make-up like this before." I watched her reach under the table and pull out a red toolbox. Christ, she uses that huge thing to carry make-up? Girls….but I hope she can cover it up. I can't do anything if she can't. I can see Spinelli from where I was sitting, and Francis was with her. The two of them were sitting on the ground, talking about something. I'm almost tempted to go over there and fucking with them just for the sake of doing it. Shit, they don't know who I am. Why shouldn't I? I would have to be careful though and watch what I say; I don't want to say something that'll give them any ideas.

"I'm gonna need you to stay still when I'm doing this Freckles," Veronica told him. "Just close your eyes and I'll let you know when I'm done. I'm not making any promises that it'll be perfect." I did what she said and closed my eyes, waiting for her to start. I felt something soft, like a sponge, pat on the left side of my face on and around my scar leaving something on my skin every time it touched.

"Don't do that, Freckles," Said Veronica. "Don't scrunch your face."

"Sorry, geez," I said, relaxing. "It's cold." Relaxing, I felt her continue, and my thoughts started to travel. If all of this works, how am I going to act? Should I act like those guys expect me to act or should I act like I told them I was acting? I what thinking that I could just go all psychopathic on them. That wouldn't be too hard since I'm number two and people know to stay out of my way. I could put it off. It would scare the shit out of them.

I know they're expecting me to be worse off than when I left Third Street. And the weird thing is that I'm not sure if I'm worse than compared to two years ago. I know I'm…..what's the word? Tame. I know I'm tamer than before. Fuck, I used to _torment_ everyone at Third Street on a daily basis. I don't do anything like that now. I'm just a drug dealer and escort on hiatus. That's worse, but I'm not hurting people like before, so it's better in a way.

No it's not. I'm a little worse off. But I can't philosophe the hell out of anything. That's an improvement. But hey, I gotta survive in here, don't I? Damn.

Now I'm pissed at them being here. What are they in for? I now Francis _has_ to be in for drug dealing. He just HAS to be. Think little miss Ashley is in for beating someone up. What else would she be in for? I wonder who as on the other end of her fist. But if she tries to punch me ('cause the bitch can only _try_, she won't make contact), I will swiftly inform her of rule number 42.

Rule number 42: If a girl has the balls to hit a guy, that guy has all rights to hit her back.

I got some backed up anger that needs releasing and it might just end up on her face if she chooses to hit me. If she knows what's good for her she'll take my word and leave me alone.

"Are you tryin' just to get rid of the scar or make the whole left side of your face look like the right side?" Veronica asked me.

"I'm tryin' to look normal," I told her.

"Oh okay," She said. "Open your eyes." Opening my eyes, the bright lights made my squint my eyes, but I adjusted. "Hold your eyes open and DON'T blink." Opening my eyes as wide as a I can, I tried to force them close by habit when her finger came close to my eye with….what's that on her finger? A contact lens? Is she gonna—yep. She put it on my eye. It's not like I can see in my left eye so what's the point of having it? "Okay you can close your eyes again." I blinked a couple of times to get my eye to adjust before closing them again. This time I felt a brush go over the left side of my face. Man, all this make-up just to cover a scar.

'Though it's a pretty noticeable scar.'

"'Kay, I'm done," She said. "You can open your eyes." When I did I was staring into a mirror she was holding in front of me. Man….

It was like I never had the scar in the first place. There was no sign of it ever being t there. Not only that but my eye didn't look like it was blind. The color was diminished when it was blinded, but the blue it matched the right eye. You couldn't tell I could see out of it. And all this just from a little make-up. Damn.

"Holy shit, you made me look normal," I said taking the mirror from her to get a closer view on the work that was done. "Thanks. By any chance would you have anything that could dye hair?"

"Are you tryin' to have a makeover or somethin'?" She asked, placing her hand on her hips. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"What's all this about?" Bandit asked, speaking up for the first time. "Make-up and hair dye, dude?"

"I wasn't gonna tell anyone, but since I trust you guy's I'll let you in," I said. "There's these two new inmates and I used to go to school with them. I was even good friends with one of them before…..something happened. Then I got sent here after I was found guilty for something I didn't even do. But they didn't recognize me when a guard told me to show them around. I'm doing all this so that when they come to find me I'll look like they expect me to look; without the scar, blind eye, and brown hair. I'm just gonna mess with their heads."

"Hmm…..Okay. I'll dye your hair. But it won't be permanent," Veronica said. "It'll wash out every time you take a bath."

"But I could get it put back in, right?"

"Yep."

"Then I'll do it," I said. "I had brown hair before so do you think—"

"Would you like dark brown, or light brown," She asked, holding out two tubes of hair coloring with the color it would put in as the label. "Or, I do have this one shit-color brown, but I don't think you want that color…I don't even know how I got it."

"…..chestnut brown….." I said. "My hair was chestnut brown…..do you have it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" She mumbled , taking another tube out of her toolbox. She places a towel around my shoulders and put some Vaseline around the edge of my hair. "Just relax. All I gotta do is put in your hair and comb it through. It'll go by fast. Promise."

**~*~LATER~*~**

Looking down from the upper level of the dorms over the rails of the staircase, I stared at the two newest inmates at Duval. They didn't know that I was looking at them. Good. I just want to _look_ at them. What are they planning? They better not be thinking that they're gonna come up in here and run shit. I run shit in here, even though it's under number 1's rule. But he whoever he is, he doesn't do much, so it's like I'm number 1, right? Right.

If they even try anything I'm going to make their sentence hell on earth.

Veronica dyed my hair back to its natural color. I don't recognize myself, but it must be what I would look like if JoJo never bleached my hair and Tommy Gun never cut me. I prefer the look I got when I came in here, and weird as that sounds.

Oh look, they spotted me. About time. Look's like Spinelli's come up here. Great, that's just what I need…..

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

"It's been three days. Maybe he's not in _this_ dorm," Francis suggested. "There is more than one…"

"I know there's more than one dorm, but I have this feeling," Spinelli said. "Like he's watching us and waiting. Don't you have that same feeling?"

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna stress myself out about it," said Francis. "And you shouldn't either…."

Sitting against the wall the two of them tried to consume the food they were given for dinner. It seem impossible because after the first bite they both had to resist the sudden urge to vomit. They struggled with the food the first day they arrived and thought that they would die of starvation before their sentence was over. But they grinned and forced the so called 'food' own their throats. Poking at it, Spinelli wondered how _anyone _ would consider the food edible.

"I'm not trying to stress about it," She said absentmindedly. "But I feel like he _knows_ we're here and is planning something. And I'm not trying to fall for anything he's gonna try. I don't care how mad he might be at us; I'm not gonna put up with it."

"Spinelli…."

"I'm sure you don't want to either, right? We're spending a month in here and I just want to get out of here without starting a war. I'm not trying to start anything; I just want to let him know that we want to avoid any contact with him. If he leaves us alone, then we'll leave him alone. That's not asking a lot is it?"

"Spinelli!"

"_What?_ I'm trying to eat this….crap…"

"Look up there!" Francis shouted pointing upwards at the upper rooms. She looked up to where he was pointing. Leaning over the railing and staring directly at them she saw who she was looking for: TJ. He looked down at them with a blank expression on his face and a toothpick in his mouth. She watched as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "You were right, dude…."

"See? I told you…..," She said absentmindedly. "How long has he been there?"

"I dunno. A while I guess…..are you gonna to talk to him?"

"Yeah, I am," Spinelli said. She got on her feet and walked, while keeping her eyes on the person in question, to the staircase. Reaching the top she saw that TJ was still leaning over the railing looking down where she was sitting before. It was then that she thought that maybe she should turn back.

The whole point was to deter him to _not _do anything to hurt her or Francis. But there was the chance that he wasn't going to do anything at all. The blonde guy _did_ say that he minded his own business and didn't even talk. Maybe he only was looking at them just to see that they were there and was going to shrug it off. If that was true, then talking to him might make him **want** to do something to them. And she didn't want that to happen.

This was the guy that spread sneezing and itching powder all over the playground. The guy who poisoned the whole school with laxative in the cafeteria food. The guy who put explosions in their desk. The guy who released rats and roaches, armed the kindergarteners with paintball guns, set of explosions in the diggers holes, blew up the Ashley's clubhouse, and sprayed glue from off the roof!

It's the same guy who set the school on fire!

And he's older now! He can do more! Maybe it wasn't worth the risk…..

'But I won't know unless I try…' She thought. Swallowing her fear, she walked towards him and stood next to him.

"…..um…hey…" She said. She waited for him to look at her, but as she waited time seem to go my painfully slow. TJ still looked down at everyone else below before blowing smoke out his mouth. He turned to face her with the same blank expression on his face as before without saying anything. "…I've been looking for you."

Instead of answering, TJ choose to stay quiet and just look at her up and down, examining her uniform. He blinked.

"So um…me and Francis, you know…Hustler Kid…we're both in here for a month…..we're not trying to start anything. We were just think that if we stayed out of each other's way then we won't have any conflicts….you know?"

He stayed silent.

"….o-kay….," She said, uneasy but the awkward lack of a conversation. "If you're not going to say anything then I guess I'll go."

"It isn't enough that I'm locked away until I'm 21," He finally spoke. "Now I'm here with _you_. Why the hell are you in here, Spinelli?"

"Oh, you're talking," She said, turning to face him. The first thing she saw was his cold, soulless blue eyes looking at her. After gaining back the breath what was choked out of her by a simple stare, she continued to talk. "…..I-I'm in because I got in a really bad fight," She told him, nervous from his expressionless face. "I-It was with Ashley A., you remember her, right? Part of the Ashley's?" No Answer. "….and, uh, it's for a month…"

"Why are you talking to me?" TJ asked her. "I don't even like you. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to tell you that we don't want any conflict. We know that you hate us, but we don't want to start a war in here or anything." TJ laughed.

"War? It's wouldn't be a war," He told her. "It'd be a defeat. Whatever. Stay out of my way or this'll be the longest month of your life," He said stomping out his cigarette and walking past her. "Goddamn bitch thinks she's gonna come up in here and be at the same level I am and start some shit….."

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: Oh I plan to use my ideas, definitely. This chapter and the last was just setting things up. I just wanted to know what the readers were thinking. The next month will probably last until chapter 40.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	35. Testosterone

**Things finally start to happen again, folks! The last two chapters were just setting everything up, but now we get down to business! Can't wait…**

**Go Forth and Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Our English teacher is making us keep a journal to track our thoughts, even though I already have one. She said something about it being a way to see how we write and narrate. Whatever, I don't care. I already keep a journal so it's no big deal._

**~*~V~*~**

"Jesus, how long has it been since I worked out?" TJ asked himself as he leaned against the wall next to the punching bag to catch his breath. "This…..is….ridiculous…" For gym, he choose to give weightlifting a break and go back to the punching bag, but after only a minute he found himself to be out of breath and he could understand why. He was what he considered to be 'in shape' and thought he had no reason for losing his breath so fast. But that wasn't going to discourage him from punching the bag. Pushing himself off the walls, TJ pull on the boxing gloves and started again.

"It's because you've only worked on lifting weights for so long," Specs told him as he ran on a nearby treadmill. "Lifting weights builds muscle but it doesn't help your stamina…..and you've been out for while watching JoJo…"

'It shouldn't take me too long to build stamina,' TJ thought as he landed a few well-placed punches. 'I'll give it two weeks…..but I gotta keep going…..' As he continued to throw punches at the bag, TJ looked across the room where Spinelli and Francis were lifting weights. My pure chance the three of them had some of the same classes together, gym being one of them. The two newest inmates avoided eye contact, making it much easier for TJ to stop himself from staring them down. Veronica taught him how to do the make-up and hair dye himself so he wouldn't have to come to her. Before he even left his room, he put it on, making sure that there was no trace of his bleached hair or scar.

Watching the two of them talk, TJ tried to read their lips to get idea of what they were saying. He couldn't hear a word because people between them were talking themselves. But he wanted to know to stay on top of them. But it looked like they were going to keep their promise to stay out his way during their sentence.

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"I don't get it," Francis said as he placed a weight on one side of the barbell he was planning to lift. "So you said he told us to stay out of way and nothing bad will happen to us. But then why is he staring at us?"

"Why are asking me?" Spinelli asked him, turning her attention to the punching bag that TJ was using in the corning. "You should go ask him. I've done all the work so far! But I see what you mean. It's creeping me out….." After the very brief conversation with TJ yesterday, Spinelli didn't know what to make of it. Sure, he said that he wanted nothing to do with the two of them, but he could've just said that to get their guard down and was coming up with something. Why else would he be staring so hard at them? "Maybe we're worrying so much that we _want_ him to do something because that's what we're used to him doing. What, do you want me to go over there and ask him if he's up to something?"

"No, no. Don't do that," Francis said. "I guess you're right. We should wait and see. He isn't really doing anything….except looking."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I'm not gonna learn anything from this. I can read their lips or hear a word their saying, even when their facing me. I need to focus on this bag anyways. This class is taking forever to end. It would go faster if I had someone to talk to but I only ever talked to JoJo and he's still out. Specs said he should be able to come back to school tomorrow, but I'm still stuck talking to myself in my head.

I started to turn my attention to something else besides the two of them when Tommy Gun caught my eye. I'm just that unlucky to have this class with him too, but he minds his own business. And he's staring right back at me…like he was waiting for me to look. What does he want?

….He's walking over to the dumbbells….and he's taking his shirt off…..

….

…

Damn he looks good.

I-I know I hate the guy and would rather stab him than have a conversation with him, but _he looks good_. I feel so guilty so even thinking about him like that but he _does_. Okay, I'm going to look away in three seconds. Ready?

Three…

Two….

One…

….

I'm still looking. Why am I still looking? I gotta stop. Just because he's strong, and persistent, and can pin me down in a second….has the darkest eye's I've ever looked into, and sends chills up my spine every time he whispers in my ear…..

No! I am not thinking about him like that! I refuse t—did he just blow a kiss at me? Yep, he did. He's doing this on purpose. Dammit why can't I look away from him…..

Oh dear sweet Jesus. I'm not….there's no way. I mean, I hate him! I can't be…..I'm not…_attracted _to him, am I? I don't get it! He beats me up as soon as I get here, he blinds me, continues to threaten me, and here _I _am pitching a tent over him! I need to sit down….

Pulling of the boxing gloves I at down on a nearby bench and looked at the wall because I didn't want to look at _him_ again. This class needs to hurry up and end so I can go to my next class that I don't have with him. All I have to do is ignore him. That's right, just ignore him. Don't look at him, don't talk to him, don't even think about him and everything will be fine. Right? Right. Don't think about him coming out of nowhere and wrapping his arms around me and pulling me too close to him and whispering in my ear…

I did it again. Dammit I don't like him! I don't! I hate him! I am not attracted to him!

The bell signaling the end of gym rang and I jumped from my thoughts. A snatched my bag and followed the crowd out the door and headed to my next class. English.

It's not that I don't like English. I actually do, and I blame that on JoJo making me read. I'm not the best student in class or anything like in math; I have a B average. But after Gym, it's my favorite class. Our teacher is really cool too. All we do is find books _we_ want to read and write papers about what we think about it. Easiest class. Well, after Gym of course. And no Tommy Gun, but it's one of the classes I have with Spinelli and Francis. I can't even focus on the book I'm reading because of those two.

Turning into the classroom I automatically looked for my seat in the left corner of the room. It's always empty because it's _my_ seat. The teacher didn't assign seats but it's still mine. I don't care if that sounds petty. So why is Spinelli sitting my seat?

Okay, okay. They've only gone to school here for a few days so they might not know that I sit there and no one else does, so I won't yell. But I am pissed.

"That's my seat," I told her after I made my way over. "Move." She looked at me like I was wrong from tell her that before grabbing her books and moving to another seat. The only other seat there was after everyone came in was the one next to mine. I can't win, can I? The bell rang again, and the teacher shut the door. I grabbed the book I was reading, _Childhoods End_, and opened to the page where I left off. I would've finished days ago but I got distracted. Just one chapter to go.

….

….

….

Why is she looking at me?

"What?" I hissed at her. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," She said, turning her attention back to her book. See what I mean? I can't finish reading this book! And it's good, too! Slamming it shut, I reached under my seat a grabbed my journal and started to write in it.

**~*~Spinelli's POV~*~**

What's he writing in that thing? I've seen him writing in it before in the dorms, but I don't know what's in it. Is he writing own idea of things to do to us, or he just using it like a regular journal?

Or do I even want to know? He had some really disturbing thoughts at Third Street. And by disturbing I mean you will leave scarred for the rest of your life, how can anyone have thoughts like that, why isn't he in a mental hospital hopped up on drugs, disturbed. He doesn't know this but I followed him one day after school. Into the woods. I don't know why, but I was curious. I really wish I didn't follow him.

I saw him light a cat on fire. A cat! I _rescued _a cat and that just made it harder to watch. I thought I was dreaming and that I was going to wake up any minute now, but I was awake. Eventually the cat rolled over and died, and you know what he did? He poked it with a stick. I didn't tell anyone, but it stuck with me. I kept denying that it even happened to the point that I believed myself….

I don't want to go into any more detail about that. That' just why I'm not sure if I want to know what he's thinking. He's crazy. However you look at it, he's crazy. How else would you describe a person who does that? You would call them crazy.

He doesn't seem to want anything to do with us, so I could just be paranoid over nothing. That makes sense.

"What are you staring at?" He snapped at me. Must've been staring without even noticing. I need to quit doing that.

"Sorry," I said before going back to my book.

Today's Wednesday, and I found out that they only allow visitors on the weekends. After classes are over I need to call one of the guys to let them know. I need contact from the outside. It gets claustrophobic in here after a while with nothing to do. I know I'm gonna go crazy in here if I don't find something to do! Maybe I could ask…..no. He doesn't even want to talk to me, so there's no way he's going to give me any advice. Just forget it.

The bell rang and everyone got out their seats to leave. This was the last class of the day, so I was happy to grab all those books I'm forced to carry from class to class and take them back to the dorms. On my way out the door I bumped into someone and dropped my books. I was about to tell the person who bumped into me to watch where they were going, but when I looked up I saw it was TJ. He didn't say anything, just kneelt down to get his books off the floor and I did the same. WE both got our books really quick before getting back on our feet and leaving the room.

**~*~END Spinelli's POV~*~**

"Hey Freckles, you up for game of blackjack?" Bandit asked TJ as he came into the dorms. He and the others had already gathered at their usual table, waiting for TJ to come in front the classrooms.

"Can't you all come up with something else to play," TJ mumbled to himself. "Yeah. Just hold on; I gotta to go check on JoJo. I sure he's fine though," He said walking past the table and into his room. The first thing he did was relieve himself of carrying his text books by dropping his backpack on his bed. Rubbing his lower back he was happy that at least until tomorrow he didn't have to lug the bag around. When he was done he turned to face JoJo who was sleeping. Since he was bedridden, he was always asleep when school was out and TJ came to check on him, so it didn't raise suspicions. Still, TJ always woke him up at ask if he was okay. Shaking his roommates arm, TJ waited for him to wake up and say his usual 'What the hell do you want' and tell him to go away, but JoJo didn't budge.

Thinking nothing of it, TJ shook his arm harder. Nothing happened.

"Hey guys! Something's wrong with JoJo!" He shouted to the others outside. "He's not waking up…." The others came rushing in and stood around him. Specs was the first on to come in and stepped forward and TJ watched as he checked his breathing and pulse. "He's okay, right?"

"He's alive, if that's what you mean," Specs told him. "He's still breathing and has a pulse….but his pulse is going really fast. I don't know what's happening to him, so we really need to get him to the hospital. Go get one of the guards and tell them to call 911."

**~*~LATER: TJ's POV~*~**

They had to take JoJo to the hospital. The EMT's didn't tell us anything about what was wrong with him or even how soon he would be better. But at least he's alive. It could've been worse. I'm a little shaken up from it though. Something like that doesn't happen every day. But he'll be better, sooner or later, and then he'll be back.

I need to write about this. I can't focus on anything else until I get it out. I went through my backpack and looked around for my journal. It's easy to point of from all of them because it's not as thick as the textbook and was black. But I can't find it. Did it fall out when I dropped the bag on my bed? That's probably it. It's just under my bed. I got on my knees and looked under my bed. I even moved around the boxes under there to make sure I checked everywhere but I still can't find it. Where is it? I put it in my backpack, it's the first thing I put in my backpack when class is over so I know I have to have it!

I could've over looked inside my backpack. Let me check again.

**~*~END OF TJ's POV~*~**

"What was up with you in English today," Francis asked Spinelli as he worked on his math homework. "You kept staring at Detweiler for the whole period!"

"Yeah I know," Spinelli said working on the same homework. "I was just thinking about something and I did it without knowing I was doing it."

"What were you thinking about that you had to stare at him for?"

"You know, I don't even remember," She said, erasing a problem on her paper. "I think it was about him and he was writing something in a black book…"

"A black book. Like that one?" Francis asked, pointing to the stack of books next to Spinelli. Looking where he was pointing, she saw that the same black book that she had watched TJ write in during class.

"Yeah that's it," She said taking it out of the pile. "I must've picked it up when he bumped into each other. I wonder if he knows it's missing."

"You really should give that back to him," Francis said quickly. "We said we would stay out of each others way and when he sees that he can't find it he's going to come after us!"

"Yeah, yeah I know," She said, running her fingers over the edge. "But he's always writing in it. What if there something about what he wants to do to us in here? Wouldn't you want to know?"

"No, because when he finds out we've been reading it he'll do worse than do whatever we read in it! Don't open it!"

"I know I shouldn't," Spinelli agreed, looking around the dorms. "But I want to, too. It doesn't look like he knows it's missing. At least not yet….come on, Francis. Don't be such a pussy! You're the toughest _guy_ in school!"

"In case you forgot, Spinelli, this isn't Third Street High," He told her. "This is juvie! There are guys in here that make me look like a little girl! And he's one of them! I don't want to die!"

"I'll just turn to the last entry," Said Spinelli, turning to the farthest page with writing. "I won't read any earlier, promise. Let's see….."

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: Yeah I knew that ahead of time. It was actually why I choose for them to break-out that way. The other way would've been for something to break the pipes in both dorms as that they would get sent to another juvenile hall across state and when they were being transported the would go through Third Street and bust out of the trucks at where carrying them…..but I didn't like that idea.<strong>

**Please Review**


	36. Deafining Silence

**Man, four updates this weekend. Wish I could do that all the time. But this is a rare occurrence that most likely won't happen again. Sorry. :P**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>'Thing's haven't been going my way lately. Sometimes I wish I was in the younger dorms again. I ruled in the younger dorms. But I can't make myself younger again. What's taking Specs so long to make those drugs? I dunno, maybe it's harder than what I think it is. Everything usually is. <em>

_But back to the topic. Things aren't going my way. It looks that way, since I'm the second highest on the totem pole, but I can't do what I want. Not with **Spinelli** here. I don't care so much that Francis is here. If it was just him, it wouldn't give a fuck. But once this bitch gets out, she's going to tell the guy's about me and I don't want that. But at the same time I want to give her a fat lip. God please help me not to. Once I get one punch to her I'll want to punch her again, and again. Fuck not punching girls. This is juvie. I'll try not to though._

_I just got my English report make. The one I did about my favorite author. I wrote about Edgar Allen Poe and got an A. I'm proud of that A. I'm hanging it on the wall next to my bed.'_

"He hasn't written anything that you're looking for," Francis told Spinelli as he listened to her read TJ's journal out loud. "Can you stop reading now? He's going to find out any minute and come after us with intent to kill!"

"I'm just gonna read a little more," Spinelli told him, turning to an earlier entry. "He has to have written more about us than that…"

"You've been saying 'a little more' for the last hour," He said. "Stop!"

"I think I might've found something. _I know I'm probably not going to get a response, but I sent my former friends a letter apologizing for what I did to them and everyone else at Third Street. After being alone with Alex I felt like I needed to. I don't expect to get an answer, but it's nice to hope," _She read.

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"Dammit! I know I had it when I got up to leave class!" TJ shouted. In search for his journal he had all but destroyed his side of the room. Any other book wouldn't have gotten this type of response from him, but it was his journal. All his personal thoughts of the last two—almost three—years were in that book! Every single bout of frustration, anger, sadness, each suicidal thought he had was written down on the paper from the same pen that the journal had. And it wasn't in his possession.

"Where is it!" he shouted. "I know I had it! I put it in my bag, I walked out of class, then I bumped into Spinelli and I picked up my books…." When it finally clicked where his journal could be his rage boiled over and headed out the door. "GOD-DAMMIT!" He shouted as he punched the wall, leaving a small yet noticeable dent in the stone wall.

"Man on a mission!" Bandit said as he marched past their table. Bandit and the others turned and watched as their friends marched across the open area to his target.

**~*~V~*~**

"Spinelli, for the love of God, put the book down!" Francis warned as he watched the person that he believed could end his life approach.

"Hold on," She said, eyes stuck to the page she was reading. "I'm getting close to something…"

"It's not worth it!" He shouted. "Will you look up!"

"Will you calm down," Spinelli said. "He doesn't know that we have his journa—"SLAM

Spinelli nearly jumped off the ground when the journal was slammed shut right in front of her face. Looking up, she saw none other than TJ staring down at her with all the anger and hatred in the world in his eyes.

"What. The. Hell, are you doing with this book?" He asked, deathly calm. Spinelli opened her mouth to respond, but her words were stuck in his mouth and her mind was busy comprehending the ominous shadow of fate that was looming over her because of TJ's presence. "I asked you a question. SPEAK!" While Spinelli was trying to gain back the confidence that she had lost only seconds ago, Francis was staying as still as he possible could so TJ's attention wouldn't be drawn to him. The guy looked like he was ready to kill without hesitation.

It was then that he was aware there wasn't a sound coming from anyone in the dorms. Everyone was silent and was watching the scene unfold with a mixture of interest and fear, both for themselves and who it was happening to. They haven't seen him act like this since the day he came there and knew that if something made him as pissed off as he was now, it had to be serious. So they watched, careful to not make a sound to disturb him.

"I am going to ask you again, and you are going to answer my question," he hissed. "What. The. Hell, are you doing with my journal?" Again, Spinelli tried to answer his question, but choked on her own words. When he didn't get any response from her, TJ grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and stood up, hanging her off the ground and held her eye to eye. "TALK!"

'Why aren't the words coming out of my mouth,' Spinelli thought as she was off her feet. 'C'mon, Spinelli…you're not afraid of this chump—' Her thoughts were cut off when her head slammed against the wall and it suddenly because harder for her to breathe. Feeling a hand around her throat she tried to claw it away with her own hands before she was too weak to do so.

"If you're not gonna open your mouth and _talk_, then you're not gonna be able to talk anymore," TJ said as he tighten his grip on her throat. "People like you piss me off. I _asked_ you a fucking question! Don't you know when someone's talking to you?"

"Hey! Hey dude! Stop it!" Francis yelled as he got up and tried to pull the arm TJ was using to choke Spinelli off of her. "You're gonna kill her!" He didn't know what hit him when TJ took his hands off of Spinelli and landed a punch square on his jaw, sending him to the ground. Dazed and confused, Francis couldn't get off the ground until the world stopped spinning and he knew which way was up.

Turning back around, TJ looked at Spinelli who had fell to the ground and was coughing, trying to get her breath back. TJ grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, not having the patience to wait. He dragged her away from the corner and across the dorms to his room, her arm in one hand and his journal in the other. Too weak from being choked, Spinelli could only try to stay on her feet instead of being dragged across the floor.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Didn't I tell this bitch that if she crossed me, I would fuck her up? I think I made that clear when she grew balls and decided to talk to me! But no, I guess it didn't make it through her thick skull! She has _no_ idea how angry I am at her! I'm holding back, I swear to God I am! If I wasn't, she'd be dead right now! Her and that little pussy hustler! Fuck!

I'm not acting anymore! She needs to know what the hell is gonna happen when she crosses me! I don't even know what I'm gonna do! I could get away with murder if I damn well please!

When I reached my room I threw he onto my bed and closed the door. I'll be damned if there any witnesses. After locking the door I turned to face her and she still on the bed, bringing her knees up to her chest. She wasn't that afraid five minutes ago. If she was she wouldn't be in this situation, but that's too bad!

Walking closer to her I took down the top of my uniform. I had a t-shirt though, so I wasn't topless but I took that off right after. She was crying at this point, crying to back into the corner as much as she could.

….

…..

…..

…Goddammit. What am I doing? Unclutching my fists I turned away from her and rubbed my forehead with my thumb and forefinger. I hate when they do that. I hate when they cry. Then _I _feel guilty. She stole my journal! I have no business feeling guilty for her! She deserves what's coming to her!

"Tell me right now what you were doing reading my journal!" I yelled at her. "Hurry up!" She just looked at me and sobbed. I don't have time for this….. "Spinelli, you better start talking right now or I swear to Christ that I'm gonna start beating you into a bloody pulp!"

"I must've grabbed it when we bumped into each other and dropped our books," She said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I was just curious to what you were planning to do to us."

"How much did you read?" I asked, looming over her and clutching my fists.

"Five pages," She mumbled. "I swear that's it!"

"Bull. Shit."

"I started from the back and picked random pages, but I didn't learn anything!" She insisted. "You're not gonna do anything to me are you?" Ha. I should. I really should. It already looks like I'm gonna rape her. I probably was until she started crying like a little bitch.

"Listen, you Italian twat. Everything I am is _in_ this journal," I told her, holding the book up. "Everything that I have been through, every emotion that I have felt, and every thought I have had is in this book. I have the nerve to _kill_ you for reading this. If you would've given it back to me without reading it, I wouldn't be five minutes away from raping you. Didn't I tell you not to cross me? Didn't I tell you that you would regret the day you crossed me? Do I look like someone you want to cross paths with? As mad as I am right now, I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm not. But I will, and you better watch your back. I was just gonna let you serve your time and leave, but you fucked that chance up." I turned away from her and started to walk to the door. I need to get away from her, but then she opened her mouth.

"What I read, it wasn't much," She said. "It was just scattered thoughts. It wasn't anything that would give me any clue or insight—"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "You have no clue how valuable this is to me. It's private. For no one's eyes but my own. And you read it. I don't care _what_ you read; it's that you read it at all." I paused to unlock and open the door. "Get out of my sight." She got out of my bed and left the room, and I slammed the door behind her.

I have my journal back, but now I'm too riled up to sit down and write. I put it up on the shelf with the other two journals. I fill these things up so fast that I have one for every year. This one's almost filled up. Right in time too. My birthday is in a week. I'll be 16. Finally, it feels like this year lasted forever. But I need something to calm my nerves. Reaching under my bed I pulled out a shoebox. Inside there was still some of the product that I was selling in the younger dorms. I brought it in here for me to use…let's see….put the crystals in the pipe, then flick the lighter on and hold the bulb of the pipe until it until the crystals melt…..that's it…..almost done…then just breath in the fumes…

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

"You okay, Spinelli?" Francis asked, rubbing his jaw to make sure it wasn't broken or fractured from the hard punch that landed on his face. "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"Not besides choking me," Spinelli told him. "He didn't do anything. But he did say that now we should watch out backs. Guess he wasn't going to do anything to us after all…."

"Man…..that guy knows how to throw a punch," He mumbled. "I told you not to read his journal! I said he would get pissed! And he did!"

"I know, I know. I was just curious. Can you blame me? I was just trying to help _us_," She told him. "You weren't doing anything to try and get information. At least I was willing to take a chance."

"But still, Spinelli! I tried to _kill_ you! At least he didn't actually do it. You sure you're okay? You seem kinda out of it….."

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken up from the whole thing….." She told him. "Just to let you know, if we die in here because of him, you can totally blame me for it."

"Oh, I am. You don't have to tell me it's okay because I'm already am. Did you notice how _quiet_ it got in here when he yelled at you? You could hear a pin drop in here! The _older_ inmates looked like they were gonna shit their pants and he wasn't even after them! I'm lucky he didn't break my face….."

"Okay! I get it!" Spinelli said, throwing her hands up in defense. "I fucked up. But seriously though, what the hell could be in that journal that he'll try to kill someone over it?"

"Don't! Stop right now! Stop thinking about that journal! Do you _want_ to die?" Francis asked. "It's not worth it. And you didn't even find anything out!"

"I know it's not worth it, but I was curious. If the gang was here—"

"Then you all would've been dead two days ago."

"Can we please not talk about that now? Let's just get back to the homework, okay?"

**~*~V~*~**  
><em>Journal,<em>

_It's hard as shit to clean your room when your high as a mother fucker. I got it done and everything, but it's extra hardtop do high. It's stupid though 'cause I should've figured out that she had my journal when I couldn't find it. But I have it back now and that's all that matters. _

_I was __**this**__close to raping her, I swear to God. If she wasn't crying I'm sure I would've done it. I hate when they cry 'cause it makes me feel guilty for getting revenge for something they did. I don't regret almost doing it though and I know that if I did I still wouldn't regret it. She didn't have to read it. She could've just given it back and explained it was a mistake. I would've just glared are her and walked away. _

_Heh, I knocked the hustler out of Hustler Kid. He's seeing stars and stripes._

…_I know she didn't read what she was probably looking for. I haven't been around her (or the rest of the gang for that matter) in years, but I know her well enough to know how she would've acted if she read any of the more private stuff. She'd be outside the door, waiting for me to come out. Or at least looking from where she usual was with a worried look on her face. She's not doing any of that. Just doing her homework._

_I'm keeping my promise on making this the longest month of her life. I was only gonna scare her up to this point but plans change._

…_but back to what I was going to talk about._

_JoJo's in the hospital. I don't know what's wrong with him though. Specs said he was burning up and his pulse was racing, so we had a guard call 911. I have no idea when he'll be back, if at all. I hope it'll be soon. This room is really empty with only me in it. I thought we were doing everything right, but apparently not. It's weird. I keep expecting to hear the sound of a page turning but it never comes. I even look over to see if he's okay when I know he's not there. That's how used to him being there that I am._

_I'm worrying too much. He'll be fine._

…_._

_He has a picture on his wall of him and his little brother. I kinda feel guilty for having a little brother and not even wanting him when JoJo's bother isn't even alive…..hmm._

_I wonder what they named him. I could've found out if I had the balls to break into my house, but that might've pissed me off more. I didn't get a good look at his face though, but he had to be at least one years old. Maybe a little younger. It's not an excuse though. My parents could've found a babysitter and visit. Whatever. I don't plan to bond with the ankle biter. _

…_.._

…_..I'm attracted to Tommy Gun. There. I said it. Out of all the people I could possibly be attracted to, it just has to be him. WHY? This isn't funny! This is serious! If he ever found out he'll keep coming after me 24/7. Just keep it a secret. A dirty little secret._

_I can't wait until this weekend and I say that with the evilest smile. I know that the rest of the gang has to come and visit her, and that's when I can get a good look at them. I'm not going to talk to them though. I'm just gonna look while talking to Prickly. Yep._

_Can't wait. _

* * *

><p><strong>I'm in a stalemate folks. I don't <em>exactly <em>know what our Little Monster will do to Spinelli and Francis, but I'm working on it. Writers block sucks. Any you all would like to see? :**

**Donna Nnov: JoJo…..ah, he's out for a while. He'll be back, promise. Don't worry. **

**Please Review!**


	37. Visiting Hours

**Was the last chapter a shocker for you all? Good. I meant it to be that way.**

**So I just found out that I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out. All of them. I needed them taken out five minutes ago. And I agree because they hurt. But I'm stuck with them until schools over…..so yeah, hooray for me. Life. And they have to put me under for some undisclosed reason. Anybody knows what's that like?**

**Read On! **

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><p><em>Dear Diary,<em>

_My guidance counselor thought it would be a good idea for me to keep a diary while I'm in here. I'm not one of those types of girls that would keep a diary. I don't have anything against them; they're just not for me. But I think I'll do it while I'm in here. No harm in that…Just don't plan for me to continue to write in this dumb thing after I'm out._

…_Have you ever go the feeling that what you're doing is being controlled by someone that you can't see? Not quite like God, but someone who just wants you to go through something just because. I feel like that. It's like I'm doing it, but I'm being forced to do it but I don't know that I'm being forced to do it. _

_Weird. _

_Guess that's all I have to say today._

**~*~V~*~**

"Oh my God, you're still alive!"

The weekend couldn't come fast enough for Spinelli and Francis. After the incident on Wednesday, they made sure not to make eye contact with TJ out of pure fear. The whole ordeal only took place for twenty minutes, and they figured that if he exploded that much in that small amount of time then they should avoid setting him of again. Once the weekend rolled around they looked forward to seeing someone outside of Duval. Reaching the visiting room and walking over to her friends, Spinelli was immediately tackled and pulled into a hug by Gretchen, Vince, Gus, and Mikey, all of which were taller than she was.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm still alive," Spinelli said after breaking free of her friend's hugs. "I'm just as surprised as you all are…."

"So c'mon tell us!" Gretchen said after they all sat down at one of the tables. "What happened?"

"I gotta ahold of his journal," She said. "That was an accident though. I tried to look through it to see what he was going to do to us…."

"And what'd you find out?" Vince asked her.

"Nothing," Spinelli sighed, disappointed. "Absolutely nothing. I don't' even think her was going to do anything after reading it, but now me and Francis are on top of his hit-list. You guys should've _seen_ him! I thought he was about to explode! He choked me—"

"He _choked_ you?" The other four asked in unison, shocked.

"For about ten seconds," Spinelli said, waving or them to calm down. "I was okay. I didn't black out or anything, but he only stopped to punch Francis down to the floor. Then he dragged me by the arm to his room and threw me one his bed. I thought he was gonna rape me—"

"He _**raped **_you?"

"I said I _thought_ he was going to rape me," She said. "He took off his shirt, but he didn't do it. I was scared enough though. I think he didn't do it because I was crying. Don't any of you tell anyone I was crying in here!"

"….I think anyone would cry after going through that," Gus, said breaking the silence that fell over them. "We know you have your pride and everything, but let's be honest. Your life could be in danger."

"Thanks for the motivational speech, _Gus_," Spinelli said, resting her hand his her hand. "Just what I needed. I know he's after me; he told me he was going to do something. Soon. He didn't tell me what and I didn't get a clue from reading the damned thing so it was useless. Francis almost shits his pants every time TJ looks at us. The guy's tough at school, but Francis looks like pansy compared to him—and he is staring so hard at us right now….." Interrupting herself, Spinelli looked across the room away from her friends. The other looked to where her attention was stolen to see the person they dreaded to see sending daggers of hate through their skulls.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Mm. So that's what they look like now. Can't say I'm surprised. They're exactly what I expected them to look. It's amazing what you can tell about someone by the clothes they wear.

Gretchen's still a smart-ass geek. She looks like she might be one of those cool geeks now, though; the kind you could approach. Dark blue jeans, black converse shoes, and neon blue shirt with the 'blue screen of death' message on it. Classic geek. She even has on those a pair of 'nerd' glasses.

And Vince is still a jock. He always was one, really. Looks like he's on the basketball team at least. Number 22. He's been hitting the gym too. I can still slam him into the ground and leave in imprint of his face in the ground. He got rid of that stupid hair cut from elementary school, too.

Mikey's not a fatass anymore. Whoop-dee-damn-doo.

I'm actually proud of Gus. He's not a scrawny punk anymore. Looks more like his dad now. Saw that coming. Still has the glasses though, same hair cut too. Is that a ROTC uniform? I think it is. Bet he's planning on going into the army, or at least thinking about it.

God I hate them all.

Let me stop staring at them. They look scared shitless. Heh.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear a word you just said, sir," I said turning back to face Prickly. "What'd you say?"

"I asked where did your scar go?" Prickly asked me. "I thought you said it wouldn't go away."

"It hasn't gone anywhere," I said. "It's just covered with make-up. A friend of mine showed me how to do it. She dyed my hair, too. That's why I look so normal. Girls and their make-up, huh? Before you ask, a pipe in the girls dorm needs to be fixed but that means digging under the building so they're staying with us. For now. And it wouldn't even be so bad if _someone_ wasn't here. Guess what? You know Spinelli? One of the girls I used to be friends with back at Third Street? She's here for a month. So I have _that_ to deal with."

"Did she talk to you?"

"Oh, yeah. She said that she didn't want any trouble and that we should just ignore each other," I said. "And that would've been fine if she didn't read my journal. I was so pissed that she did that, so I told her I _was_ going to do something. But between me and you, sir, I don't think I'll _do _anything. Just scare her and raddle nerves a little."

**~*~End TJ's POV~*~**

"…He looks_** pissed**_," Said Vince as they all turned away.

"I know," Spinelli mumbled. "And this is him on a _good_ day. Imagine being in the same area as him day in and day out."

"…..is that Principal Prickly?" Gus asked. "What's he doing visiting TJ?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Spinelli said, bored. "Can we change the subject, please? What did I miss at school?"

"Nothing much. The Ashley's are going around bragging about how Ashley A. managed to get you sent here," Said Gretchen. "But no one is listening to them, as always."

"You're kinda lucky though, Spin. We got a nine page report to write in English," Said Vince. "At least you don't have to do it in here."

"Oh yes I do!" Spinelli snapped. "First day of school in here, the teacher gives me the work sent over from the High School. Even behind bars they make you do homework! It's not just in English; they have it math, history, all that stuff! I was hoping to get a break, but no. You can't escape homework. The only good thing about this is that there's nothing to do here and I'm sort of _forced_ to do it. A month of this…..I'm not gonna make it."

"You're gonna make it, Spinelli," Mikey encouraged. "Just stay out of trouble and don't make eye contact with TJ."

"Trust me, I'm not," She said. "So do any of you have any idea where my parents are?"

"Your mom told to tell you that they couldn't make it this weekend because of a family emergency," Gretchen told her. "She said to call her cellphone tonight around 8 if you can, but that they'll definitely come next weekend."

"At least they have an excuse."

The bell rang overhead, signaling the end of visiting time. After saying goodbye to her friends, Spinelli got in line with the rest of the inmates to head back into the dorms

**~*~V~*~**

_Journal,_

_Slow week. As far as suicides, I mean._

_It's still Suicide Season, but for the last two weeks, no one was killed themselves. As far as I know any way. They could've done it in private. For the first time ever._

_I wonder how Spinelli and Francis would react if someone killed themselves and they saw it. They'd probably shit their pants. Or cry. I'm used to it, so it's not that big of deal anymore. That's a good question though. How would they react? I wanna know. But it's not like I'm gonna go up to someone and make them kill themselves just so I can see how it would turn out. I'm not __**that**_ mean.

_Yeah I choked a bitch and convinced her that I was about to rape her, but I'm not that mean._

_Alex just called me a hypocrite. _

_Anyways, for now I should stop focusing on little Ms. Ashley and pay attention to Francis. He might try to sneak in product and sell it. That's __**my **__game, and that little asshole isn't going to cash in on it. No fucking way._

**~*~V~*~**

"I have good news for the first time in months!" Specs declared as he came out of his room and approached the table where the others were.

"And what would that be," TJ asked, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"I made heroin! Good heroin too," Said Specs. "Exceptionally so. We are back in business. Just one more thing. You all have to try it."

"As always," mumbled Bandit. "'Kay so when can we get it?"

"Tonight, right before lockdown," He said. "You inject it with a needle, like before."

"Tonight's gonna be a good night," TJ said absentmindedly. "We're all gonna get high and see _GOD_. Can't wait." _Drip_. Feeling something drop on his head, TJ looked up to see where it could have come from. Seeing no source, he shrugged it off and when back to reading his book as everyone else talked amongst themselves. Seconds later, he felt another drop and another on his head. Soon it was pouring down on him. Getting out of his seat, TJ made sure to keep his book wet and saw that water wasn't just raining down on him, but in other areas around the dorms. Everyone was either gathered on top of the stairs or underneath them.

**~*~V~*~**

"This place is shoddier than it looks," Francis said as he and Spinelli looked at the pouring water from under the stairs. "It looked top notch when we drove in."

"The roof is leaking. Not that big of a deal, Francis," Spinelli said, blackly. "Roofs leak sometimes. Doesn't your roof leak sometimes when there's a really bad storm?"

"Okay, I see your point. But still," Said Francis. "It's leaking. Where are we gonna sleep? We can't sleep out here. There's water everywhere. Yeah there's a drain in the middle of the floor, but it's still raining inside…"

"You're so negative….."

"Sorry I'm not full of sunshine, rainbows, unicorns, and boxing gloves Spin. I'll try harder to be next time when our lives aren't in danger. Just to see a smile on your face."

"Don't get all mushy on me, now," Spinelli said, lightly punching him in the arm. "Now's not the time."

"LISTEN UP!" The two of them looked for the source of the booming voice and found it came from a guard on top of the stairs they were under. "As you can all see, the roof is leaking. It's raining heavily outside. Unfortunately for tonight, all of you will have to squeeze into the rooms. Once the rain stops, the roof can get repaired and we can get up the cots out here again. If we're lucky, the rain will only last for two days. Lockdown is in an hour, so I suggest that you all find a room to stay in."

Immediately, inmates ran past them and into their rooms, slamming them shut as soon as there were up to four people inside.

"…what just happened?" Spinelli asked. "Did we just get locked out of _every_ room?"

"Well….not _every_ room," Francis said sadly as he pointed to the left. She looked towards where he was pointing and saw TJ and his friends standing near their own rooms. His friends left and entered a single room while he stood outside of his own room looking at them before heading inside.

"You're kidding, right?" Spinelli asked in disbelief. "I mean you have to be joking. You are not suggesting that we share a room with him."

"I'm not suggesting it," He said. "I'm saying that we don't have a choice. C'mon, we'll look out for each other. There's two of us and only one of him. Even though he loosened three of my permanent teeth and manhandled you, but we should be able to handle him if he tries anything."

"You say _if_ as if he's not going to. Let's go, _Hustler Kid_," She said, walking away from him and towards the person he currently feared most. "We've all gotta die sometime. If I die, I want a witness."

Francis followed the braver inmate, thought slowly, to the only available room left. They hesitated to get any closer and thought about the possibly of finding somewhere, anywhere else to stay than where they were headed, but the locked doors around them told them that that was not possible. Sighing, they admitted defeat and continued on their way.

"Hey," Francis said, grabbing Spinelli's art just before they turned into the room. "I think you should let me go in first. Like you said before, he's probably not as mad as me so he wouldn't attack if he sees me first, right?"

"…..Right," Said Spinelli as she pulled her arm away. "Go ahead." As Francis took his last few steps towards the room, he managed to gather what remaining courage he had left in him to keeping himself from running away like a the little girl he felt he was. Turning into the room, Francis kept his voice calm when he spoke.

"We need to stay here tonight," Francis said confidently. "So we are and we don't care what you have t-to say a-about it…" His courage faltered when TJ turned from the window he was looking out of to face him. The courage and confidence that he had managed to find poured out of him like the rain pouring down from the ceiling, and the only thing keeping him from running for the hills was the shock froze him where he stood.

"One of you get the spare bed," TJ told him dryly. He sat on his own bed and pulled a book off the shelf. "The other gotta sleep on the floor. I don't care which, just leave me alone."

"….See didn't threaten us, Spinelli" Francis said with a nervous smile. "You had nothing to worry about."

"Don't even," Spinelli said moving past him into the room. "I'm getting the bed."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How come you get the bed? I did all the hard work here to get us into this room!" He protested.

"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?" Spinelli joked. "You should be a gentleman and look out for my well-being."

"Since when do you want to be treated like a _lady_? If someone even calls you a _lady_ you treat them like one. Not in a good way either."

"Stop whining. It's only for one or two nights. Besides, we both can't squeeze into this bed and don't even think about suggesting that we do!"

"_It's only for one or two nights_," Francis mocked. "I know we both can't fit in it. But I don't like the idea of sleeping on the floor…how about we sleep head to toe? That way you don't have to worry about me groping you or something horrible like that."

"….alright. Head to toe. Only because I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you're on the floor."

"It's extremely difficult to read when people in the room are talking about useless bullshit no one cares about," TJ said turning a page of his book. "Be quiet." Francis and Spinelli looked at each other, uncertain of what to do. Their attention was drawn back to TJ when he was filling a thin needle with some clear fluid in a small bottle. Their eye widened in shock when he stuck the needle in his arm and injected it.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Francis asked him.

"I'm huntin' wabbits!" TJ said as he laid back down in his bed. "Fuck it looks like I'm doing? You're in here for dealing drugs; this isn't a question you should be asking me. Be quiet and do something useful like go to sleep."

"C'mon Francis, let's go to sleep," Spinelli said, claiming one side of the bed as her own. "It's getting late anyways."

"Yeah." The two of the struggled to get enough space in the bed for the both of them to be comfortable, but found a way for the both of them to lie down and go to sleep.

* * *

><p>…<strong>.I'm considering writing an ArthurRecess crossover one day. Maybe. This comes after watching episodes of Arthur for a week straight. I might just be crazy for even suggesting such a thing. Just ignore this.**

**Donna Nnov: I almost had him rape her. Almost. I was debating it in my head but decided not to because…..well, just because. But the fact that he was SO close to doing it is bad enough. **

**RandallXSpinelli: You might. ;D I'm kind of fond of that pairing. Just a little bit, so there might be some 'aaaawwwwww' moments carefully placed here and there. As for the ending of the story, I don't know if I want it to be sad or not. I _do_, but I _don't_. but the ending is a _long_ ways away. **

**Please Review!**


	38. Bunny

**I love the weekends. Four more weeks of school. Just keep counting down until the last day. Love it. **

**Before the chapter starts, I give credit to Carl Solomon for his poem "Howl." I read this poem and thought that it was PERFECT for this story, or at least a few passages. It's incredibly long, but I'm only going to quote a few passages here and there throughout this chapter and the story as a whole.**

**Lastly, I'm sorry that any of you who have this story on alert got about three or four e-mails alerting you that I posted the last chapter. Something was up with the website and I wasn't sure if the chapter actually showed up.**

**Go forth and Read!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Why do things like this keep happening to me?_

_I can't get a break. Fuck this, I'm taking charge._

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

_I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by _

_madness, starving hysterical naked, _

_dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn _

_looking for an angry fix…_

Not to sound like one of those people who over-analyze poems just for the hell of it, but I can completely related to this poem by this Solomon guy. He's brilliant. Not as good as Poe, but still good. I like this poem a lot. I feel like this sometimes.

I went to the library again and checked out another book filled with a bunch of random short stories and poems. Dammit JoJo; I blame you for getting me hooked on this. All it took was one good author to get me hooked. Shit. Anyhow….

I got my report card today in the mail. An 'A' in Math, English, Gym, and 'B's' in Science and History. I don't blame that on me actually studying, just having nothing else better to do with my time. I'm still proud of myself for these grades though. A 3.6 grade point average; better than what I ever expected. M parents would be proud, if they bothered to visit or send a letter or pick up when I call. But enough about that. I'm gonna treat myself tonight to something special.

Wonder if I can get one of the girls in here to strip for me…I am becoming a 'man' after all.

Turning sixteen is supposed to be a special occasion. My birthday was a few days before it rained inside the dorm. Birthdays don't mean anything like they used to, so I didn't do anything to celebrate. But this report card…THAT'S a reason to celebrate.

Yawning, I squinted my eyes while I looked up at the sky for any sign of the sun. The rain had stopped, but it rained all night. The roofs off all the buildings are flat so water was caught up there and was pouring into the dorms. We have the option of staying in our room or going outside. I'm outside. I need some air. Told Francis and Spinelli that they were coming out too. I'm not leaving them alone in my room with all my stuff.

It's cloudy today, and the sun isn't shining through. I like weather like this.

…..Something's tickling my leg. Brushing it away I went back to reading.

_Who wandered around and around at midnight in the _

_Railroad yard wondering where to go, and went,_

_Leaving no broken hearts,_

_Who lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars racketing_

_Through snow toward lonesome farms in grand-_

_Father night,_

_Who studied Plotinus Poe St. John of the Cross telep-_

_Athy and bop kabbalah because the cosmos in-_

_Stinctively vibrated at their feet in Kansas,_

What the hell is tickling me? It's at my side now. I brushed it away again, but this time it came right back. What. The. Hell. I bet it's Tommy Gun. It sounds like something he would do just to get my attention. Looking to my side I see there's no one there. But the tickling is and it's coming from my pocket. Something furry digging in my pocket.

…..

…..

Is that a bunny?

Using both hands I gently grabbed it and pulled it out of my pocket. Holding it in front of me I see that I was right. It's a bunny. It's probably hungry…well there's plenty of grass outside the fence, so I set it down close to a small hole I think it climbed through to get in and picked my book back up. Where did I stop?

…

….I'm being tickled again. By that same bunny. What does it want? I don't have anything.

I pulled it out of my pocket and sat it down again near the fence. I stood up and started to walk towards the others to get some peace. Wonder what they're up to.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked as I got closer to them. "Something good I hope."

"You can start drug dealing again tomorrow," Specs told me. "If you want. I have enough and know how to make more when we need to."

"Looks like someone has a little ankle biter," Veronica laughed. "What's with the rabbit?"

Turning around I saw that the same bunny that was bothering me had followed me over here. What's its problem?

"Go away," I said kicking my foot in its direction. "Shoo!" It just sat there sniffing the air. The fuck….? "SHOO! Go somewhere!"

"It can't speak English, Freckles," Veronica said. "Just go put it by the fence and it'll go away."

"Don't you think I already tried that? It won't go away! Watch," Again, I picked the rabbit up and walked over to where it started bothering me with the other following behind. This time I placed it on the other side of the fence through the hole. It just sat there looking at us. "See?"

"Let's go inside," Bandit said. "It can't follow us if we go inside." Nodding, I lead the way inside. It was starting to get a little too warm out here for my taste. It's almost lunch time anyways.

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

_Dear Pookie,_

"Yep, this is definitely from my mom," Spinelli mumbled as she read from the letter she was holding.

_Me and your father are so sorry for not visiting you last weekend. There was a family emergency and we had to get there tight away. Your brother Vito had gotten in a car accident, but don't worry, he's okay. Just a broken leg and a few stitches. Next weekend we promise to come and visit you. We'll be the first there and the last to leave. _

_Please write us back! We want to know how you are doing. Are you eating every day? Brushing your teeth? Keeping your room clean? Making any friends? You better be staying out of trouble, young lady! No more picking fights! You don't want your sentence extended, do you? Just write us back, we're just worried that our little pookie is in place full of hoodlums!_

_Love Mom and Dad_

"Sound like your parents miss you," Francis said while looking inside a small shoe box in his lap. "_Pookie_. Heh-heh."

"Hey, shut-up, alright?" Spinelli said as she folded the letter and put it in her pocket. "Don't your parents call _you_ embarrassing names?"

"Yeah, but you don't know what they are," He joked. "_Pookie_? Seriously?"

"Seriously. But if you so much as _think _about calling me that I'll knock out your two front teeth! Got it?"

"Got it. Geez, I was just joking…," He mumbled, leaning against the wire fence.

"What's in the box?" She asked. "You've been looking in that thing all day. What, do it has some sort of miracle that gets us out of here faster?"

"No, but it might make life more comfortable for us," Francis told her. "You know that guy who came to visit me yesterday? He gave me this."

"And what is 'this'?"

"This box has opium in it, and I'm gonna sell it."

"Still drug dealing? Really Francis?"

"Yes, really!" He said. "Look, places like this have a hierarchy, and we need to start making our way to the top. Anywhere but the bottom like we are now! Think about it. We're getting treated like trash around here because no one respecting us. If we do this, we'll get respect. We might not get any high up the chain than Detweiler is, but at least it'll be an improvement. And what's wrong with making a little money while we're here?"

"You know what? You're actually making sense in a strange way," Spinelli told him. "If we weren't here, I'd call you crazy, kick you in the nuts and walk away, but since we are, I won't. But I'm not gonna be a drug dealer. Not after what happened to my brother Joey."

"It's only temporary, but that's okay. I understand," He said. "If you ever wanna join me, there's a spot for you."

"Thanks," Spinelli said. She paused only to get on her feet. "But no thanks. I'm heading inside. My mom's gonna blow a gasket if she doesn't get a letter back from me. You coming will me?"

"….yeah I'll come."

**~*~V~*~**

"_Dear Mom and Dad, I'm fine," _Spinelli said as she began to write her letter. "…..I'm stuck. What else do they want? That's all I think I have to say…." Irritated, she lead against the wall under the stair case and looked around the dorms. The middle was still covered in water, so anyone inside was either in their dorms, around the stairs or outside. She could see Francis across the area talking to another inmate while gesturing towards the shoe box.

'That's like the fifth sale he made today,' she thought as she watched him take money from who he was talking too. 'He's gonna get in trouble if he keeps it up. I need to get back to finishing this letter. _Yes, I've been eating, brushing my teeth, all of that….._"

**~*~V~*~**

If there was anything in the world that Francis would love to do for the rest of his life, it would be hustling. There was nothing quite like the thrill of someone coming up to him, aksing for something, then scamming them by selling it at prices that they considered to be cheap, but were truly marked up at _least_ 200 percent. The profits were ridiculous, and compared to most jobs available out there, this one was more stable and earned him more. He could easily make a living on it. While everyone was discussing their future plans of attending college, he scoffed at them. College was the biggest scam of them all, and he wasn't about to be a sucker and fall for it. Sure, for some people college was good, but the way he saw it, he thought that it was a waste. Plenty of people became filthy rich and THEY didn't go to college.

So why couldn't that be his story?

Knowing his parents, they were going to force him to college. That was all they ever talked about around him. College, college, college. Day in and day out, college! As long as he didn't have to pay, he didn't have a problem with it, but believed it was a waste of his time. If he had to go, he would major in economics, finance, or mathematics. Something that would help him get ahead in what he loved most.

Right now however, he just wanted to make a sale.

"How 'bout this. I'll give you three pills for…$45?" Francis offered the boy in from of him.

"I'm still not sure," Said the green goggled inmate. "Where'd you get this anyway?"

"I have my connections," Said the hustler. " Nothing you need to worry about. Are you gonna buy anything? I'm offering a _really_ low price."

"Who do you work for?"

"I don't work for anyone," He told him. "That way, you don't have to go through the middle man and pay crazy prices for a few pills!

"Hmmm….I'm still not convinced," Said his costumer. "Sorry, I'm not going to buy anything."

"Whatever dude," Said Francis as he walked away. "I've got plenty of other customers." Brushing off his loss, he turned to face another inmate willing to buy what he was selling."

**~*~V~*~**

"_What_ does it _want?_" TJ whined as he sat in his bed staring down at the long eared rodent on the floor. His last attempt to get away from the furry nuisance failed as it followed him inside the building. He wanted nothing to do with it and wanted it to leave him alone, but it had other plans. The other's joined him in his room to come up with a solution to his dilemma. "I don't have anything for it!"

"How about you just take it back outside and close the door before it can get inside?" Bandit suggested. "There's no other way for it to get in."

"You can't take it outside now! It's starting to rain," Googly protested. "It'll get sick."

"I don't even care!" TJ yelled. "It's a _rabbit_. It lives outside. I'm sure it's used to the rain."

"Well _I_ care! Can you really leave a cute little face like this out in the rain?" She picked up the rabbit and held it up for TJ to see. "Can you leave this outside in the cold, harsh world?"

"Yes," TJ told her. "I could. It's fucking rabbit! I want it to leave me alone!"

"Then you're gonna have to wait until the rain stops," She said. "If you even think about leaving this little bunny outside while it's raining, I'm telling JoJo when he get's back!"

"Then tell him! The hell is _he _gonna do?"

"A lot," Veronica spoke. "JoJo has a soft spot for anything weak, animals included. He won't kill you or nothin', but he might beat you up."

"God! Fine! I'll keep it in here until it stops raining! Happy now?" He asked, looking at the small animal.

"Good. Here you hold it," Googly said, giving him the bunny. "We're gonna go get a box."

"A box? For what?"

"For it to sleep in, duh! It's going to rain all night, so it's staying here until the morning. Keep an eye on him. The rest of us have to get everything for it."

'I bet no one else has to deal with this kind of problem,' he thought as he placed the bunny on his bed. 'Rabbits don't follow _them_ around. Only me. Yep, that makes sense….' Looking at the animal on his bed, he watched as it looked at him. He didn't understand it. Weren't rabbits supposed to be timid and afraid of their own shadow? Not this one. No, this one had balls of steel to follow him around. It didn't show any signs of being afraid of him or running away at all. It just wanted to stay and it was winning.

Now that it wasn't moving he was able to see the markings on it. It was white, with tan fur on the tips of its droopy ears and feet, nose, and in a rectangle shape on its back. Moving the right, TJ tried to create some distance from the bunny, but it just moved closer to him.

"…what the…..I don't even…"

"Hey dude," Specs said entering the room. TJ faced him, turning his attention away from the bothersome creature. "There's some guy our here selling opium. It's that new guy, one of the two who you said you knew. I was going to beat him up, but it thought that since he's already afraid of you, that you might want to handle it. It's okay if you don't want to, just wondering."

"I'll handle it," He said walking out the door. "Watch the rabbit for me…."

It didn't take him long to find Francis talking to a small group inmates with a hoe box in one hand and a wad of money in the other. This couldn't happen, and he wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't have anyone else entering the drug trade. He had enough competition as it was. And now this chump and the nerve to think that he was going to get in on the market? No way. They're new. Fresh. Haven't even gotten used to life in here yet, and they never will because they're only in here for a month. On the bright side, TJ didn't see Spinelli close by so he knew that one punch would be enough to handle him.

TJ took humor in the fact that once he approached, the customers that Francis was facing run once they saw him. Once he was right behind his target, he tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He watched as al the blood drained from Francis' face when he saw that he was behind him.

"Oh….hey, man…" Francis said nervously. He backed away to try and get some distance if he had to run. "W-what's up?"

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, deathly calm.

"I, um,….selling some stuff—"

"What kind of stuff?"

"..d-drugs.." Said Francis. "Why? Do you want som—" He was cut off by a fast and powerful fist. Dropping to the ground, he lost the box he was holding and the contents inside scattered over the floor.

"Why would I want _anything _from you?" He asked holding the hustler by the collar of his shirt. "Listen, because this is the last time I'm warning you of anything. You are not going to sell any of your shit to anyone in here! You don't have the right. And if you _dare_ try to sell anything again, i'll break your face. Got it?" Francis nodded. "Good." He was sent to the floor again by another punch to the side of his face. Dazed, he didn't have the strength to get up on his own.

Something pulled him off the ground and to his feet. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was Spinelli.

"I saw the whole thing," She said. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," He said. "So much for that…"

**~*~V~*~**

"Freckles, what are you gonna name it? We can't keep calling it an 'it'."

"I'm not naming it anything," TJ said to Veronica. "I'm calling it an IT for as long as it's here."

"Aww, c'mon!"

"No! Look, I've had a long day, alright? I woke up this morning and had to wait two hours to take a bath because there's so many people in here, when I did get to take a bath Tommy Gun came in and started groping and fondling me, it took me forever to dye my hair and cover up my scar, then I go outside to read and that _thing_ won't leave me alone, follows me inside, then you guys want me to keep it, one of those scrubs trys to get in on the drug business so I had to let him know whose boss, and now you want me to name that rodent? No. I'm not doing it."

"It's a she, not an it," Googly said, ignoring his tired speech. "It's a female mini lop bunny."

"Who cares!"

"We do!" They all said together. Turning away from TJ they all looked into the temporary makeshift home they made for the creature. A box lined with two of his t-shirts at the bottom, and sawdust on top of it, a bowl of food, water and small ball and the actual rabbit huddled in the corner sleeping.

"You'd be amazed at what you can buy at the commissary," Specs said. "C'mon, let's let it sleep."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I still don't see what the big deal is. It's just a rabbit. Not a dog or something that can actually defend itself. I can understand why the girls would like it so much, but the guys? You've got to kidding me…..

It's just sleeping in that box and they're getting a kick out of watching it sleep. And now they're asking me to name it. If they like it so much why don't they take it with them?

It'll probably escape and find me _**again**_**. **

I'll give it an ugly name so I won't become like one of them, fawning over the thing. Like Abner. Abner's an ugly name. That should be good enough…

…..

…

…Duracell.

I'm naming it Duracell. Would name it Energizer but Duracell is easier to say. There, that's it. Duracell.

Shit, it even has a AA battery size mark on its back. Done. I'm done with this.

I need a cigarette…..

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><p><strong>I promise that the next chapter will be more eventual and dramatic, much more than this one.<strong>

**Please Review**


	39. Close

**Hi-ya folks.**

**I found something and I thought it was hilarious. So I posted it on my Tumblr. *hint-hint* This chapter oes in a different direction, and I hope you like it, though it's a little shorter than I would like it to be.**

**That's all I have to say, so we'll just get to the chapter!**

**Read on!**

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><p>"<em>Dear mom and dad, please ignore my last letter. It was full of lies and I apologize for even writing it. See, what I should've told you is that I fear for my life in here<em>."

Leaning over the sheet of paper at her desk, Spinelli focused on her new letter, completely blocking out the teacher's lecture. The events of the last week days made her realize that the last one was nothing but false, and that as long as she was in here that she should keep as many people informed about what was happening to her as possible.

She was afraid, and finally admitted it to herself. It took long, mostly due to her long history of being the stereotypical tough-girl, and tough-girls were not supposed to be afraid of anything. She made an exception in this case, because she was in the devils den for the next couple of weeks and wanted evidence in case her life ended early.

_"This just so happens to be the same place TJ was sentenced to. You two remember him right? That kid I used to hang out with in Third Street that you all announced that I had a crush on parents night in the fourth grade, but set the school on fire? That's him. Yeah. And he knows that I'm here and things are NOT going well._"

Five days ago Spinelli began to experience the full wrath that he former best friend had planned for her and Francis. She knew it was going to come and expected it to be bad, but nothing like what had been through. Why did she have to get sentenced _here_? Why couldn't it be somewhere else? Somewhere that did house a person who had her on the top of his hit list. It was only 10 o'clock and she had already suffered at the hand of him. She and Francis didn't have to sleep in the same room as TJ any more since the roof had gotten fixed, but that didn't mean she was immune. Tapping the pencil in her hands against the paper, Spinelli wondered what exactly see was going to tell her parents. She wanted to let them, and her friends once she copied the letter, know a few of the things she had been through, but didn't know what.

'I think it should be the more serious things,' Spinelli thought. 'Like what happened four days ago.'

"_Something happened four days ago, and after that, I'm thankful to be alive. See what happened was…."_

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

Putting her long, black hair in a high ponytail, Spinelli looked in the mirror making sure that she looked somewhat decent. Though she was in prison, she still didn't want to look like a complete disaster, but all she could do was salvage her hair. She and Francis were still staying in the same room as TJ but neither of the boys was in the room and she had a bit of privacy. Walking over to the box that held her belongings, she grabbed her backpack that was lying on top and started to leave the room but now before she took a look at the bunny sleeping in the box under the closed window. Why it was here, she didn't know and she was not going to ask.

But it was cute.

Blame it on being a girl, but she had to confess that the little bunny was nothing but adorable. It had to be small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.

"It's like Speedy all over again," She laughed. Reaching down, she stroked it fur. Suddenly, she knew she wasn't the only person in the room, and it undeniably was not Francis that had joined her. Turning around, she faced TJ, who was clearly angry but whose silence only added to the tension in the air.

"…I was just leaving," She said. Grasping her backpack she started to walk out the room but was blocked.

"I don't like you," He told her.

"…Well, uh…"

"Shut-up," He said. "I don't like you, or any of the other bastards I used to call friends." Spinelli backed up when he started to walk towards her. Soon she hit the wall between the makeshift cage and her bed with him less than a foot away. It was then that she noticed that he had both of his hands behind his back. "I can't stand your existence. I was fine here. But then you came. I don't want I was fine here. But then you came. I don't want you here. Not because I don't want you hurt, but because I don't want to see your face every day."

Looking his eyes, Spinelli didn't see the same yes she remembered seeing in elementary school. They didn't have any of the playfulness, happiness, or simple childhood mischief that she secretly missed. All of that had been drained from his eyes and what was left was malice, wickedness, vengeance, and a sick and twisted mind.

Spinelli arched her neck as he brought the tip of a two inch knife to her neck.

"It would be so easy just to end your life," He said, pressing the tip against her flesh. "Just one slash and it would be over. Just one, and BAM. You're done. One quick slash. I wonder what it's like to kill someone. I killed a guy before, but that was an accident. This would be on purpose. I wonder what it's like to _feel _the blade tear through your skin, inch by inch, and to watch you fall to the floor with no hope of surviving while the blood pooled around you, staining your uniform and hair. I should do it…." He paused, dragging the tip gently across the skin, but not piercing her neck. "It'd be so easy. But I'm not." He pulled away the knife and stepped back from her. "Because it _would_ be so _easy_."

Frozen where she stood, Spinelli only watched as he left the room without a word.

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

_"I couldn't breathe when that happened,"_ She wrote. _"I thought he was gonna kill me when he put that knife to my throat. When he walked away I was so relived, but I was shocked. I'm still shaken up from that._ _I can't even say it won't happen again because it might." _

Shivering at the thought of what she had just written down, Spinelli shoved the event in the back of her mind and continued to write.

_"Of course that wasn't the only thing he did. I know after dad reads this he'll be ready with a loaded gun to shoot him, though I think he's bulletproof. It went like this…."_

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

"This lotion is crap," Spinelli mumbled. A bath used to be the time that was guaranteed to be something that melted away her troubles. Not matter how hard of a day she had, a long hot shower or bath would solve all her problems, and the lotion afterwards helped the feeling last. That was a luxury the second she entered Duval. The only lotion she could get here was thin, and required multiple layers.

Glancing at the door, she made she made sure that it was closed and locked. It was the tenth time she checked, but she wanted to make sure. With only the bottom off her uniform and a bra on, she didn't want anyone peeking in the room. Privacy was hard enough to get when you shared a small room, and trying to get enough when you had to get dressed was even harder.

"I must go through five bottles of this stuff in a week," She said as she squeezed more lotion from the bottle into her hand. "This is crazy…." A loud creak that could only be produced by the large metal door to the room echoed against the wall. Dropping the bottle, she covered her chest with her arms and spun around to see who it was hat had the balls to come in. And it was precisely who she expected it to be.

"Do you mind?" She snapped at him. "I know it's _your_ room and everything, but _I'm _trying to get dressed!" He didn't move. Instead, TJ just stood there leaning against the side of the door, smoking the last bit of the cigarette he had before dropping it to the floor and putting it out by stomping it with his shoes. Scoffing at him, she turned away and put on a t-shirt while trying not to give him too much of a peep show. Next thing she knew, a pair of strong hands grabbed her sides, was thrown on his bed, and had her hands pinned above her head with him on top her.

Immediately she tried to get out of his grasp, but nothing was working, and her mind was taking back to what happened when he dragged her into the room for the first time. She clenched her eye shut, not knowing what will happen next.

Then she heard laugher.

Opening her eye she watched as he chuckled at her fear. He moved from his position on top of her and gave her one last look before leaving the room.

**~*~END OF FLASHBACK~*~**

_"I think he was just trying to scare me that time, but you can never be too careful with stuff like that. I couldn't tell if he was actually gonna rape me, but I'm happy he didn't. Still, he could in the future, and I'm worried."_

The bell rang, and Spinelli scribbled the last bit of her letter down before she grabbed her books and left to go to her next class.

Thinking about that he had done to her, Spinelli thought it was bizarre that she was going through it at all. The guy inflicting harm on her used to be one of her friends. Though he was a ruthless, heartless monster, she had memories of him playing alongside her and the others, goofing off like kids should. He didn't used to be cruel, or mean or anything like that. He was one of the nicest, kindest, sweetest, boys on the playground. You couldn't _pay_ him to act bad (except for the few times he succumbed to corruption, but he normal set himself straight).

She missed that kid and wanted him back. What the hell happened? Why did he turn into this…this _monster_? Things like that wasn't supposed to happen. It hurt a little extra more, because when he was good, she had a crush on him. To this day the childhood crushed hadn't completely left her, and it hurt. No one wants to see someone they're friends with go down the road he went. No one. But a small part of her wanted to hope that maybe one day he would see that what he did was wrong and change, but she approached that concept with caution.

If he did try to apologize, who's to say it's not a trick? It wouldn't be the first time, and she didn't want to get hurt again. That's why she and the other replied to his letter telling him they wanted nothing to do with him.

She had no idea what the others felt about him, but was sure that it was negative.

But Spinelli still wanted to know what happened. _Something _must've happened that made him this way. Good kids just don't become monsters overnight like he did. Or was he always this way, and just put on a mask of innocence for everyone he encountered? She didn't want to believe that, but it seemed like as each day passed that it was the truth. She couldn't come up with any other explanation for his change in behavior, and believing that he was always this way was easier because those childhood memories showing otherwise were less painful that way.

**~*~V~*~**

'I don't understand this….why do I _still_ have to do the same work for high school at Third Street High here? I was hoping that school here would be easy….'

Erasing all the math equations on her paper, Spinelli was two seconds away from throwing her math book across the room. Math was confusing enough, but with her mind buzzing with everything she had gone through and what could happen today, she couldn't focus on getting the work done. Last year, she barely managed to scrape a D to pass and it looked like that was going to be the case for this year too. Yawning, she forced her attention onto her homework and avoided looking at TJ who was sitting in his own bed writing in his journal.

After what had happened the first time, she still was curious to what he wrote in that book. She had seen him write six pages on one night. What could he possibly have to write that covers six pages?

Did he ever write about when he was nice?

"What are you looking at?" TJ asked her, petting the rabbit that hopped out of its box and onto its bed. "What's your problem?"

"Oh, um, nothing," She said. "Can I ask you something?"

"_WHAT?_"

"What happened to you?" Asked Spinelli. "You used to be so different. Then you changed out of nothing. Something had to have happened for you to change into this, right? So what happened?" Immediately, she regretted asking that question. The pencil TJ was using the write snapped in half in his hand as he clenched it in anger.

"Don't ask me that question," He told her. "Don't you _dare_ ask me that question. The part of me that you _want_ to remember, he's dead. He's dead and he's never coming back. Get over it."

"I was just curious—"

"STOP. He's dead. I don't know what happened to him, but he's dead. That's all you need to know."

"…o-okay. But can I at least ask you one more thing?"

"What?"

"Why are you doing this?" She asked. "I mean, if you said that the old you is dead, by are you acting the way you are now? I don't get it."

"Look, I know I have issues, okay? What the hell do you think I've been doing here for the last three years? I know there's something wrong with me. But that's just it. There's something wrong with _me_. You don't need to know what you're trying to get to know. It's MY issue, MY problems, not yours. BACK OFF!"

"Fine. Just asking a few questions." Closing her textbook, she left it on the bed and walked outside the room. Being around him was impossible now. Her stuff was still in his room, but she ran the risk of getting her things stolen if she left it outside. Keeping it in the room, she knew TJ had no interest in look at what she had.

While she was out there, he thought that she might as well mail the letter to her parents and the copy she made for her friends. They had to know what was happening to her. Someone outside had to me informed. After she put it down into the mail slot, she grabbed another sheet of paper and began to write.

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><p><strong>Donna Nnov: Ahh, yes, the bunny. :3 It's i<strong>**mportant. But for right now it's only adorable. **

**HiddenBehindTheCurtains: JoJo will definitely be back, don't worry. And I was just as shocked as you were when I found out that I get out in April. :3 I feel bad for all my friends I left behind in high school. But I would trade college in for high school if I could. It's easy compared what I'm doing now. And I'd actually do my work….**

**Please review! Those are appreciated.**


	40. Good To Be Back

**Hi folks. **

**Just to let you all know, we're skipping ahead to the last week of Spinelli's and Francis' sentencing. **

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I hate when people ask me questions like that. The one's that try to get to the root of my problems. I hate it. I hate it when Mr. Simmons does it, I hate it when Spinelli and Francis do it, it doesn't matter. Because when they ask me that I start to ask myself and it won't leave my mind for weeks and I don't have the answer._

**~*~V~*~**

Following his encounter with Spinelli, TJ was stuck thinking about the question she asked. she had no idea how many days and nights he spent going through list of mental disorders trying to find one that matches him. He knew there was something wrong, but all he knew was that he was a pyromaniac. Add in his experience philosophizing, it became torturous.

Since then he kept his mouth shut, not talking at all unless he was asked a question he could answer with one or two answers, or if he asked something. He ignored the questions his former colleagues asked him and acted as if they weren't there at all. It was the next best thing to them not being there.

Sitting at the table with the others, he watched his friends gamble. As he watched, me made sure Duracell didn't suddenly decided to hop away. It stopped raining a long time ago, but the animal refused to leave him alone no matter what he did. He couldn't even say that _he_ adopted it. It adopted _him_. Sighing, TJ asked himself if he was the only inmate who had to go through something like this. How many inmates had a baby bunny stalk them? Most likely none.

'At least it doesn't bother me,' He thought. 'All it does it jump on me when I'm sleeping. Like last night…' He thought back to last night when he was starting to doze off. He was startled when something landed on his chest, it was none other than the bunny. He put it in it's box and went back to sleep, but it still jumped on his chest. Soon it became apparent that it wasn't going to leave when it snuggled against his shirt and started to sleep. 'You have to pick you battles…'

"Watch the rabbit." He told everyone. "I gotta go to the commissary to get something." Abandoning their game, everyone brought their attention to the bunny munching on a pile of food. '…..whatever…' He thought.

~*~V~*~

"It's about time this place got all this stuff back….lets see….three bottles of Orange Crush, all the cherry Airheads you have, a pack of gum and cigarettes.." Waiting for the clerk to get what he asked for, TJ looked around the dorms. The place still smelled like mildew from the rain falling through the roof, the walls were still grey, and people still did what they always did. He spotted the others watching the rabbit hop back and forth between them. Then he found Francis and Spinelli sitting under the stair case talking to one another. As long as they weren't trying to talk to him there wasn't a problem. They didn't cross him, or talk to him, or looked. But he did mess with their heads just for the hell of it. Like when he held a knife to Spinelli's neck.

'That was gold,' He thought, turning back to the front of the line. He paid for everything and carried it all to his room before sitting back at the table.

**~*~V~*~**  
>Spinelli hated how she felt in here. At home she was strong. At home, she was the one person that guys didn't fuck with. But here she was none of that. She was just like every other girl. What was thought of as strong on the outside of this place was weak inside, and she loathed the word 'weak.'<p>

Guys here at the nerve to hit on her, and though she answered with a swift punch to their face when a no didn't work, it didn't faze them at all. They just kept coming.

"Hey Spin, I gotta go to the commissary," Francis said standing up from where he was sitting. "Think you'll be okay 'til I get back?" Francis was aware of all the guys hitting on Spinelli, and he hated it as much as she did because he didn't want her to accidently fall for one of them. He wanted her to fall for _him_ and had been working on it since ninth grade.

Her parents didn't like him at all because of his hustling. He understood that they wanted to protect their daughter, but that didn't faze his urge to date her at all. He only tried harder and although he might be in the friend zone, he wasn't going to let any guy hurt her. At least not without a fight in the case of TJ.

"I'll be fine, Francis," She said. "Go get whatever you need." Spinelli continued to write once Francis left to get in line. She kept her promise of writing every day, and when a letter from her parents came, she could tell that that they were resisting coming in there and making sure she was okay.

"What'sha doing?" Irritated, she looked up at the first person to hit on her for today. He was taller than her by a foot, and screamed nothing but trouble.

"If you're gonna hit on me, you might as well stop," she said. "Because I'm going to say no."

"Well who the hell said that I was gonna _ask_?" He snapped. "Get up!"

"Piss off!" As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Spinelli was pulled to her feet by the inmate standing in front of her and was pulling back to not get taken to where ever he was trying to take her. She punched and pushed to get whoever that guy was to let her go, but it did not appear as if it was working. Suddenly, the force she was using to pull herself away sent her to the floor and the guy who tried to take her away was next to her, grabbing the side of his face in pain. Thinking it was Francis that had saved her, she was shocked to see who was really standing there.

"Don't you know how to defend yourself anymore?" TJ asked her. "Or are you just like every other girl out there now?"

"…uh.."

"Get out of here," He said, getting a kick to the guy on the ground. He got on his feet and ran away from the scene. "Stop being so damn weak. It's pathetic."

"Thanks for that," She said. "I dunno what would've happened if you didn't—"

"You would've been raped," He said, cutting her off. "Stop being so weak." He stepped past her and left, leaving her stunned.

**~*~TJ"S POV~*~**

I don't care about her safety. I couldn't care less. But I'm going to be the only person in her inflicting any sort of pain on her. No one else gets that privilege.

I need some air. Stupid shit like this makes me mad. As much as I could overpower her, it's still nice to see her fight back. She just gave up this time. She better not expect me to do that again.

"Where's the rabbit?" I asked, approaching the table.

"She fell asleep so we put her in her box," Bandit explained. "Why? Do you _care_ about it? Do you _love_ it?"

"Just asked a fucking question, Jesus," I said, turning away from the table. "I'm going outside. Who's coming?" They all followed me as I made my way outside. The air in here is too polluted to relax. Air outside is like a completely different thing. It's like I'm miles away from the city and any form of air pollution, and the air is clean. It's one of the few things on the outside I can cling to.

Doesn't look like it was going now. Coming outside, we all saw that the sky was full of clouds and any sunlight was blocked. It looked like there was a storm approaching and that no one should be outside. And no one was except us.

"I think we should go back inside," Specs said. "It's about to rain."

"…yeah…"

**~*~V~*~**

"Who's up for Monopoly? I bought it at the commissary a few days ago?"

Heh, not me. I know I would win. I wouldn't be fair to everyone else. It would be the playground economy all over again. Man, I took over the economy SO FAST it was ridiculous. I could be a hell of a businessman if I want to. That, and being emotionless? I could control the whole country's economy with the power of a pen and contract. I can dream big, can't I? I doubt it. Someone would probably ruin me by exposing this part of my life to the public. But I think I'll play anyways.

I opened my mouth to reply, but was cut off.

"WHO'S RABBIT IS THIS?" The others ran into my room. Probably scared that a guard had found Duracell. I walked instead. Turning into the room I didn't see them fighting off a guard. They were just standing there, facing the inside of the room. I looked over all of them and saw who they were staring at.

It's about damn time.

"JoJo?" He turned around and looked at us.

"Huh? Oh hey," He said before turning back to face the makeshift cage. "What's with the rabbit? Is it yours Freckl—" he couldn't finish his sentence because Veronica pulled him into a hug. "I missed you all too….."

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked, pulling away from him and landing a slap to his face. "You had us worried sick!"

"I was in the hospital," JoJo told us. "That's where I was sent…"

"Why were you in for so long?"

"Why _wasn't_ I in for so long?" He sighed, sitting down on his bed. "It's a long story." We all went inside. I sat on my bed with Veronica and Bandit. Specs sat on the floor and Googly and Tony (the other girl) sat next to JoJo. "What I was told was that you guys got me sent to the hospital and I was dehydrated and malnourished. When they were trying to fix that they found that I was anemic and had to stay in the hospital longer. That shit hurts. I got fed through a feeding tube! So when that was fixed my right side was hurtin' and I blacked out. When I woke up the doctor said that my appendix burst and that they took it out. See?" He stopped to hold up his shirt and show the scar left from the surgery. "Since it burst I had an infection and had to stay _longer_. Then that was fixed, and I'm here now."

"It's about time you're back," I said. "It's weird here without you."

"Sorry. I'm better now," he said. "So what's with the rabbit?"

"It follows me. It won't leave me alone. I would've left it outside, but SOMEONE said that you would beat me up if I let it out."

"They were right," He said, scooping Duracell out of the box. "I would. Don't you dare hurt it. What's its name?"

"Duracell."

"….You did not name this rabbit Duracell."

"Her name is Duracell, JoJo," I said. "Just like the battery."

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

"So let me get this straight, you were getting dragged away by some dude and _he_ saved you? Am I missing something here?" Confused, Francis was attempting to understand what Spinelli had told him that happened to her.

"You're not missing anything. That's all that happened," Spinelli told him. "He must've saw what that guy was trying to do and he came over, punched him, and told him to leave me alone. I was just as shocked as you are!"

"I don't get him. One minute he's holding a knife to your throat, or telling us not to talk to him, and the next he's adopting rabbits and saving you from getting raped. I'd be nice to have some consistency."

"I don't get it either, but we only have a week left in here," Said Spinelli. "If we made it this far, I think we can survive another we of his mood swings."

**~*~V~*~**

_Dear Diary,_

_I didn't do this manual labor in my entire life! And it's not even what you would think of when you hear 'hard work'. It's laundry. But it's not just my laundry. It's EVERYONE'S laundry. If I had to guess, I would say that I did laundry for about….oh, no less than five hundred people. Not only did we have to do laundry, but I had to iron and fold it too. In one day. Without a break. I'm never taking my own laundry for granted ever again._

_I had help though. The guards just picked out a bunch of random inmates. Me and Francis were picked, so was TJ a couple of his friends and some other inmates I didn't know. Francis got grouped with some other guys. There were three laundry rooms, and I got grouped to together to work in one room with TJ and some other dude. Swear there's someone setting this all up. _

…_..There was an accident though. I'm sure he's okay now, because he came back from the hospital earlier. That means it wasn't as bad as it looked._

_Still scary though._

**~*~V~*~**

Wiping the sweat from her forehead Spinelli waited for the three second necessary to iron the uniforms she was ordered to do. She was unfortunate enough t be selected when the guards came and picked whom was to go the laundry. She thought that it wouldn't have been so bad if the dorms had to house both the male and female inmates, but now that the two genders shared the same housing, the amount of laundry doubled and took twice as long to do.

She did however take solace in the ironing being the easiest task. The iron she was using was not like the small one she used at home, but an industrial sized one that you laid the clothes down on and pressed the top down. The heat radiating off the machine made the task seem harder than it was.

She and the two others split the four tasks evenly. She did the ironing and when she had to wait for more clothes to iron, she helped fold what was ironed. TJ unloaded the laundry and helped fold it. The other guy, who she thought she heard TJ call JoJo once, sorted the clothes and loaded them into the washer.

"But for real though, you are not about to name that rabbit Duracell," She heard JoJo said. "Don't torture it by givin' it that name. How 'bout Falafel?"

"_Falafel?..._I'm not changing it," Said TJ. "It's gonna stay like that. That thing gave me enough trouble already. And now you've joined everyone else in loving it. What's the big deal about it? It's just a rodent."

"It didn't do anything to you," Said JoJo. "It just follows you. You act like it bites you and calls it's entire family to chew out your eyes. She's only guilty of liking you. Damn. She didn't follow you in here did she?"

"Not that I know off…."

"See?"

"I still don't like it."

"That's too bad, 'cause it's stayin'. Now shut-up and unload the dryer so I can put the clothes in the dryer in. First day I come back and I have to do all this physical labor…this should be illegal."

Turning her attention back to the ironing, Spinelli pretended as if she wasn't paying attention to the boys conversation. Her mind drifted away from her manual labor and to what she was missing by being stuck in juvie. She knew before she was sentenced that there a dance planned and that she missed it. Though she didn't exactly know who she would've gone to, even just going by herself would've been somewhat fun.

'More fun than being stuck in here ironing other people's clothes,' She thought. 'I might've been able to get Francis to take me. Maybe…' Smiling at the thought of the hustler, she reminded herself that the idea of her dating him wasn't likely. He was everything she was looking for in a guy (at the time). Strong, nice (but not TOO nice), cute in a badboy-ish kind of way but not actually _being_ like that, and on top of it, he had his own business and was making his own money. But if she ever did manage to get a date with him, she parents would forbid her to see him. They were still overprotective and with what Francis' does, they would not approve. She didn't need to ask them to know.

Her thoughts ended when TJ brought over another pile of freshly clean uniforms. Sighing, she grabbed a uniform out of the pile and started the process all over again.

"I've been gone for like, what, three weeks," JoJo said. "You mind telling me what I missed?"

"I didn't tell you because nothing happened," TJ told him as he folded the ironed clothes. "How am I supposed to tell you about what happened if nothing happened? If anything happened it's that we got some news scrubs in here and I knew them. That's it."

"Where you know them from?"

"School. Before I came here."

"So what, are you messin' with them?"

"All in my business…..if you must know, yeah I am. You would be too in my shoes," Said TJ. "I'm just scaring them so they'll leave me alone. I dunno now. They're still getting on my nerves so maybe I'll kill them to get rid of them." Spinelli suddenly felt uncomfortable listening to the conversation.

"Nah don't do that. Just keep messin' with 'em. It fucks with their minds more."

"Yeah I know," He paused to look over at Spinelli. "That's why I do it. They don't know if I'm gonna decided right in the middle of messing with them if I'm gonna change my mind all of a sudden and flip. That's why it's fun. I haven't had fun in a _long_ time..."

"You know, most people don't' talk about the people they're going to torture while they're in the same room," Spinelli said, breaking her silence.

"...who's this trick talkin' to?" JoJo asked TJ. "She one of those scrubs?"

"Yeah," TJ told him.

"_Trick? _Who the fuck are you calling a _Trick?_" She asked, appaulled.

"You, Trick," JoJo said. "Don't you know your name?"

"You're gonna stop calling me a trick before I make you!" Spinelli abandoned the ironing to march over to JoJo to make her point.

"I know someone better get out of my face," JoJo snapped at her. He pushed her away from him while he still was holding a bottle of liquid detergent, accidently spilling some on the floor and on the front of her uniform. "Freckles, do you know this Trick?"

"She's one of the new scrubs," TJ said, ignoring the argument between the two. "Obviously. As you can see, she hasn't learned her place yet."

"_In my place?_ Who the fu—" BANG BANG BANG. Their argument ended when one of the guards standing outside banged on the door to get their attention.

"Get back to work!" The guard yelled. Grudgingly, Spinelli went back to the ironing and JoJo went back to loading the dryer.

"But for real though, you are not gonna be callin' that rabit Duracell," JoJo Continued.

"I didn't want to name it at all. The guys made me do it," TJ explained as he placed the folded laundry in one of the carts. "I don't care what you call it. Go ahead and name it Burrito or Falafel or whatever you said. I'm not gonna stop you."

"Nah, it's aright I guess. It's YOUR rabbit."

"You can have it if you want," TJ said. Taking another clean load of laundry out of the dryer he started to carry it to the table with the rest. "Just 'cause it stalks and jumps on me, I named it, and it's sleeping on _my_ shirts, that doesn't mean that I want it—"

He was cut off when he accidently slipped on the spilled detergent and fell to the floor, hitting his head.

"You okay Freckles?" JoJo asked him. "That sounded like it hurt."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Said TJ. Shaking off the fall, he sat up and started to gather the clothes he dropped when he fell. It was difficult because the room wouldn't stop spinning and he felt the urge to throw-up. And there was something dripping down his back. Standing up, he stumbled over his own feet and almost fell down again, but JoJo helped him stand. He touched the back of his head and felt something flow down his fingers. Bring his hand back into view, he saw it was now covered I his own blood.

**~*~V~*~**

"You should've seen it. There was blood everywhere!"

"….So what happened?"

Once she and the others assigned were done with the laundry, Spinelli and Francis rested against the wall in the dorms. Tired, the only things they wanted to do was sleep, but found enough energy left to speak to each other.

"He slipped and hit his head on the floor," Spinelli said as she explained what she saw. "He was bleeding. I think he was taken to the hospital or something. That was two hours ago though. Laundry took forever."

"You're telling me! I was just working with one other person!" Francis said. "We had to sort through the laundry, load it, unload it, iron it, and fold it. I think we did like fifty loads. I'm never complaining about my own laundry again."

"Me neither."

"Hmm…..it doesn't look like whatever you saw was THAT serious," Said Francis. "He's back from the hospital." He pointed towards the door that lead into the dorms. The person they were talking about was lead in by the guards. They both could clearly see a bandage wrapped around his head. He walked past what she assumed to be his friends and went into his room.

"But you didn't see it," Spinelli told him. "It was a lot of blood."

"If you're so worried about him why don't you check on him?" Francis joked. He didn't get the light punch in the arm that he was used to, but the sight on Spinelli walked away from where they were sitting. "I didn't mean it!"

"I know you didn't. But I'm still gonna go see."

"Haven't you learned anything from being in here? He doesn't want to talk to us! Especially you!" Not paying him any attention to his protests, Spinelli walked away and headed towards TJ's room. Looking inside, she saw him lying in his bed on his back with his eye's closed talking to JoJo. He looked fine compared to the amount of the blood she saw.

"What'shu want, _Trick_?" JoJo asked after he spotted her.

"If you call me a Trick one more time—"

"JoJo, Spinelli, stop fighting," Said TJ. "My headache is bad enough without you two arguing. JoJo, can you leave for a minute?" JoJo nodded and left the room, sending a heated glare to Spinelli. "What do you want Spinelli?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," She said. "There was a lot of blood."

"Why?"

"….okay, look. Mikey and his whole 'being nice to people no matter what' rubbed off on me, okay? Just answer the question. Are you okay or not?"

"M'fine."

"Oh, that's good. But what about all the bloo—"

"Staples."

"Staples?"

"Yeah, staples. I got a one inch cut on the back of my head. If you get a cut on your head, it bleeds a lot," He explained, tiredly. "I looked worse than what it was. I got staples on my head. And I have a concussion, so I have to take it easy. Is that a good enough answer?"

"I think so. Just checking."

"Why the hell do you care?" He asked, patience running thin. "We're not friends. We're not even acquaintances. Why do you care if I'm hurt or not?"

"Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I want you to get hurt," Spinelli explained. "If I did, then I would just be as cruel as you are. And I refuse to be ANYTHING like you. Not after everything you did."

"Then don't do it," TJ said. "Go 'way. Need to sleep." Scoffing, Spinelli turned around and left the room, shaking her head.

"You just can't help some people," she mumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>HiddenBehindTheCurtains: Oh yes of course more time for writing! I posted in an author's note a while back that by the time summer came I would start updating about every other day and how I was going to finish this story and the others up. However that was before I knew we get out of school in April. I'm going to try and be done with this story by June, but that's just it. I can only <em>try<em> because I am nowhere near the middle point for this story and I've been working on it for months. But I can safely say that updates will increase starting April 24, my birthday. :3 But hey, look! JoJo's back! **

**Donna Nnov: I can safely say without the exposure of any spoilers that little Duracell won't be killed. :3 **

**Please Review!**


	41. Done and Over With

**Man…..I can't waiting until this whole 'college' thing is over. In three years. Ugh. Luckily we don't have school next Thursday and Friday. Four day weekend. Lovely. :3**

**Read On!**

* * *

><p>Spinelli stretched and yawned in her seat. She and Francis sat in the same office they saw when they first came to Duval. The dreary atmosphere of the room didn't fade their enthusiasm of why they were sitting in the room, waiting. The smiles on their faces and their restlessness in their legs showed just how anxious they were for why there were there. Today was a special day for the two of them, because today was the last day of their sentence.<p>

They were waiting in the office for their parents to come and take them home. They had called days before to make sure their parents knew. Spinelli almost lost her hearing when she called home. Her mother knew the day was fast approaching, but with yelled with joy that her daughter was going to come home soon. Spinelli was tempted to call her friends to come and get her, but the rules were that only parents or guardians could come.

But it would take at least three hours before they got to Duval, and that was counting that there wasn't traffic. Neither of them knew what time their parents left to come and get them, but hoped that they would be there soon. They wanted to leave Duval as fast as they could. In the only thing she had to take with her from Duval was the diary that she wrote in. It was only written in for about twenty pages, but it still belonged to her and she wasn't going to leave it here.

"How much longer do you think it'll take for them to get here?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm dying to get out of here!"

"They'll come, don't worry," Francis assured him. "They have to come eventually. Called my parents yesterday. They left at 12 and it's 2 o'clock now, so I know my parents should be here in an hour. You called your parents right?"

"My mom said she and my dad were gonna leave at 11 o'clock. But there could be traffic, you know. It could still be awhile. Time would go faster if we had something to talk about."

"Like what?"

"Like…what are you gonna do when you get out of here?" Spinelli asked him. "I know my parents are gonna smother me as soon as I'm in their sight. I can see it right now. The whole ride home they're going to ask me question after question after question about what I've been through. Then were gonna sit around the table eating dinner and talk some more. After that's all over with I'm gonna hang out with my friends and just relax for the first time in a month. And probably going to talk some more. What about you?"

"Same thing, talking with the parents for DAYS on end," Francis laughed. "Probably not gonna tell my friends. Don't want them to know I was acting like a little pansy."

"Lucky you. My friends already know I'm a pansy in here. Even with the girls," Spinelli said. "I sparred with one of the girls during gym class one time. Got knocked the fuck out. Didn't even last 30 seconds."

"I remember that," he said. "That looked like it hurt."

"It did. I still got a bruise on my stomach from it."

For the next hour the duo talked. They talked about what they've been through during their stay, what they were going to do once they were free of Duval, and what they missed from the outside. They could wait to eat edible food. The food they were forced to eat there was more of a task than a time of the day to relax and think. Anything from the outside, even the greasiest fast food, would be the greatest meal they would ever have in their life. And as much as they hated the drama that high school guaranteed, it was much less dramatic than being in the same area with a person they were sure wanted to hurt them to some degree. Getting away from him alone would take a lot off their shoulders.

And hour passed fast, and their parents started to arrive. Spinelli's parents came first, and to say they were overjoyed to see their daughter would be an severe understatement. Her mother alone hugged all the air out of her lungs when they saw her. Spinelli had to pry herself free from her mother's grasp. Her dad didn't hug her nearly as tight as her mother did, but it still was tight. But she understood why. Any parents would after not seeing their child for a month. She said goodbye to Francis and promised to hang out when they both were back at Third Street before leaving.

Francis' parents came soon after. His mother smothered him for five minutes while his father didn't waste any time lecturing him on staying out of trouble.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

**~*~V~*~**

"As much fun it was staying in here with you boys, we have to go back to our own dorm."

The month ended, and the pipes in the girls were fixed meaning that the girls no longer had to stay in the boys dorm. The morning came, and the girls were beginning to line up to move back to their dorms. Before they left, Veronica, Googly, and Tony were saying goodbye to the boys and were spending a lot of the time saying good bye to TJ's bunny.

"You better take care of it, Freckles," Veronica told him as she petted the little creature. "If you don't, I'm gonna get JoJo to beat you up!"

"I think I'm doing a good job. It's been two weeks. I'm being a good mommy aren't I?" TJ said flatly. "Don't you have to go get in line?"

"We're goin', we're goin'. Jeez. Just can't wait to get rid of us, can you?" One by one the girls hugged and said goodbye to the boys before going to join the other girls in line waiting to go. It was quiet without so many people packed in the dorms, but they had all gotten used to their presence. Turning to check on his rabbit, TJ couldn't help but notice an unset look on JoJo's face.

"What's with you?" TJ asked him. "Are you_ sad_ that you're not gonna get your daily lap dance?"

"Fuck you."

"No seriously, what wrong? Are you and Veronica dating or something?"

"No. Stop askin' questions, damn," JoJo told him. Turning to the box on the floor, he kneeled down in front of it and picked up Duracell. "How's your head?"

"It's fine. I get a little dizzy when I stand up to fast, but that's it. Doctor sad that was normal. Are you gonna play with that thing all day?"

"Yep. 'Cause it likes me. See?" JoJo sat the bunny down back in its box and walked five feet away. Duracell hopped right out of the box and umped over to him, landing on his left shoe. "It likes me."

"It likes your pants," Said TJ pointing down to the bunny who was now pulling and biting on the bottom of JoJo's uniform. "I gotta go watch this hair dye and make-up off and a buisness to go run. Have fun with it."

~*~TJ's POV~*~

It's about time. I don't have to wear this dye in my hair anymore. Whatever I was using was really itchy. But I don't have to keep it in anymore. Spinelli and Francis are gone now. Thank God.

Standing under the water, I scrubbed my hair extra hard to make sure I get it all out. I'm sure I got it all, but still. I have to make sure because my hair grew out and my natural hair color is showing at the roots. Need to get that bleached, but it can wait. I need to work on this make-up too.

I haven't made any money in a while, even though Specs make heroin. But I'm going to. Right after this shower.

…..

…

Someone's watching me. I can just _feel_ it. I hate that feeling. And I know who it is too. Bastard.

"It's about time you stopped colorin' your hair," Tommy Gun whispered in my ear. Dammit. It's always when I don't have a weapon with me to use. He's wrapping his arms around my waist and sure he's naked. Doesn't help that I'm attracted to this asshole. "I liked the blonde better."

"And I still do give a fuck," I told him. Pulling away from him a went back to taking a shower. "Go away. I'm not in the mood for this. Go grope someone else."

"I don't wanna grope someone else," He said. "I wanna grope you…c'mon, come back to my room with me…promise we'll have fun together…"

…..fuck my life.

I know I should pull away right now, but I can't…it feels to good. The hot water isn't helping me either. And is he…..yes he is. He's kissing my neck. God I feel like I'm melting in his arms. C'mon…I'm not gonna let this happen.

He just pulled me closer to him and I can clearly feel against my back that he _wants_ this to happen and is ready. Just pull away from him.

….

…

I'm not pulling away. Why am I not pulling away? Okay, just elbow him in the stomach and punch him in the face—oh my God he's biting my ear and it_ feels so good._ Why does it feel so _good_? It's so wrong, and I know it's wrong, but it doesn't feel wrong at all. How does he know where to touch me?

"Ya know, for someone who say's they don't want anything to do with me, you're not fightin' back," He whispered. "Or maybe you were just lyin' and decided that fightin' wasn't worth it 'cause you _really do_ want it." Fighting the strength that I needed, I turned and punched him square in the jaw, but he stayed up. There was enough distance between us so I walked part to go get my towel and leave, but he grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Stop playin' hard to get," He said, tugging my hand. "Stay here with me."

"Stop bothering me," I told him. "The last thing I need to worry about is you coming from behind and fondling me." I pulled me hand out of his grasp. He didn't try to grab my hand again. I found my towel and wrapped it around my waist. Looking back, I saw that Tommy Gun was still looking at me. Out of all the inmates, why did I have to become attracted to him? Couldn't it have been someone else? ANYONE ELSE?

I walked out of the shower and to my room, leaving him behind. When I reached my room, JoJo wasn't there. Probably with the others. But Duracell's on my bed. Sitting under my journal that was open so the pages were facing down on the bed. JoJo did this, I just know he did. Evil bastard.

"I bet it's nice to be you," I said to the rabbit. "Just get whatever the hell you want. Must be nice. Just so you know, I'm not falling for this whole 'cute and helpless' thing you've got goin' on. Nope." Ignoring her, I found clean clothes and put the usual white t-shirt, orange jumper (but I don't put it all the way on, just the bottom) and white shoes. I out grew the pair I got from Veronica, and I'm waiting for a pair that I ordered from the commissary to come in. I turned back to my bed and saw that Duracell moved and was looking at me like I was the most interesting thing she's seen all day. "What do you want?...wait, why am I even asking….? It's a rabbit…."

I held my hand down in front of it and it wasted no time jumping on it. I picked it up and held it against my chest, petting it. I'm not going soft, I swear. It's just that if I walked out of here, it'll jump off the bed to follow me and hurt itself. Then JoJo would punch me for letting it happen. So I carried it outside and to the table where JoJo and Bandit were already sitting, shuffling dealing cards between the two of them. The cards look different though. What are those? Are those…..are those Uno cards. Oh shit, I haven't played Uno since I was nine. Love Uno.

"You guys are playing Uno?" I asked, sitting Duracell down on the table.

"Yep," Said Bandit. He stopped dealing the cards to pet Duracell. "Wanna play?"

"Yeah I'll play. Where's Specs?"

"He's off doing some research," He said. "Something like that. C'mon, let's play."

We played Uno for the next two hours. We only played two games because it got really competitive. Two games in two hours. Sounds more like Monopoly. Monopoly lasts for-fucking-ever. It was still fun, even though it lasted that long. Duracell wanted to be an attention whore and took cards out of the stack between us with her mouth and gave them to us, somehow knowing that we were going to pick them out. Damn rabbit. Trying to steal all the attention.

…

….Okay, so it's cute. There, I said it. But I'm not gonna fond over it.

When it wasn't passing out cards it sat in front of my and chewed on my shirt. I need to find something else for her to chew on that isn't me. I'll find something tomorrow. Maybe a piece of wood….

I won the last game we had. By then, it was getting close to lockdown, so we all called it a day. I stayed at the table a while longer after Bandit and JoJo, who took Duracell with him, and left for their rooms. I just needed a minute to think.

I'm 16 years old. I've been here since I was 13. That's a good three years. Damn. The last three years were a hell of a ride. White rooms, bullies, suicides, break-outs, and letters. Those words sum up what I experienced in the last three years. And I'm still in _here_ for another two years. Wonder what that'll be like. Then I'll get transferred to an actual prison.

I hope me and the guys get transferred to the same prison. I would hate to have to start all over again. That would suck.

"What'sha thinkin' 'bout?" I can't get a moment of peace, can I? I soon as I get it, someone comes along. Like Tommy Gun. I stood out of my seat and walked past him. Answering his questions only add fuel to the fire. Before I could completely get away, he grabs my hand and pulls be back. "I asked you a question."

"So? That doesn't mean I gotta answer it," I snapped at him. He just never stops.

"That's cute," He said. "A few years ago I woulda thought you and your attitude needed to be put in check, but it's cute now. You still not gonna come back to my room for the night, are you?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" I yelled at him. "Get that idea out of your head!"

"Hmm. That's too bad," He said. "I'd send you to the moon and back if you'd come with me." I snatched my hand away and looked at him with a death glare. He blew me a kiss. Ugh. I walked away, keeping my arms folded so he could grab my arms. But that didn't stop him from landing a hard slap on my ass.

I can't win.

I continued and walked into my room, closing the door. Duracell's in her box hopping around, and JoJo was in his bed, starting to go to sleep. I turned off the lights and laid in my own bed ready to go to sleep too. I need to get Tommy Gun out of my head, but knowing my luck, I'll probably have a wet dream about him. I did once, it can happen again.

Right after I closed my eyes I felt something land on my head, I didn't bother to see what it was. I already knew. Duracell. I dunno why, but she likes to sleep in my hair. She doesn't chew or eat it, she just likes to dig in it for a minute then snuggles in it. She's so weird. It's a rabbit thing, I'm sure. As she settled down, I could hear JoJo chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"You too," Said JoJo. "You know you love that bunny. Stop fakin'."

"Yeah right. Whatever JoJo," I said. "Go to sleep."

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><p><strong>HiddenBehindTheCurtains: You seem to really like JoJo :3 May I ask why?<strong>

**Please Review!**


	42. Rule 34

**Yes, I named this chapter after Rule 34 of the internet. And (apparently) Recess is no exception to said rule. Don't ask how I found out, I just did, and it was a very traumatic experience that murdered my childhood in every way possible. *shivers* I didn't even LOOK it just popped out of nowhere. Literally. CANNOT BE UNSEEN.**

**In other news, I'm on the borderline of the M rating. Just a little. It's necessary, but not TOO much I hope. Just a warning.**

**Read on!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I've been to the moon and back. Dammit all to hell._

**~*~V~*~**

"Freckles, you still gonna do this?"

"Yeah, I am. You and the others have the whole drug business going on just fine without me. And this makes more money anyways…."

JoJo's talking about the bracelets I'm wearing on my arm again. The girls are gone, so you can imagine what it's like for the guys who finally got to have sex when the girls were here, then having them taken away. I almost feel bad for them. Almost. That goes away after I get their money. I didn't expect it to happen so soon though. I expected that they would make due with their hands for a week or two before coming after me and whoever else did this to. Nope. Day two, they're after me. Perfect time to raise prices.

I'm still wearing the red, orange, and yellow. Not adding any of the other colors. No fucking way. Kissing and fucking is all I'll do. I feel kind stupid for doing this though. Tommy Gun could come out of nowhere and assault me for no reason other than to assault me. That guy isn't serious though is he? He can't be. I know he isn't. He's just playing mind games and shit. Not falling for it nope.

"Well if you gonna whore yourself out, then don't do it in front of Duracell," He said, walking past me and into the room. He came out seconds later holding Duracell. "Her mind doesn't need to be polluted by your whorin'. Watch out for Tommy Gun."

"Yeah, I know," I told him as he walked away. I've been keeping an eye out for Tommy Gun since I put these bracelets on. I haven't seen him anywhere, and I was tempted to let my guard down, but I knew better. I haven't seen any customers all day. Was I wrong about everyone wanting a piece of ass? Hope so. But I usually stay out here for a while before anyone comes over, so I'll wait.

The guards are passing out some papers and the inmates are going crazy for them. The only ones who aren't are the guys. I could see that Bandit got up and got four of them for us. I've never seen the guards hand out any sort of papers to us.

Someone's tugging at one of my bracelets. I'm too busy trying to figure out what the guards are handing out, so a shook it off, but the tugging came back. Guess I should get to work. I turned to see who it was that was bothering me, and behold, it's none other than Tommy.

"_What?" _I hissed at him.

"So you goin' back to work, huh?" He asked, twirling one of the red bracelets around his fingers. "How much?"

"None of your damn business," I said. I pulled my arm away from him and made sure he couldn't reach it. "Go away before I rearrange your face."

"No, I'm serious. How much," He asked, reaching for the bracelets again. I kept it out of his reach. "C'mon."

"I said no," I told him again. "I don't care how much. I'm not scooping low enough to sleep with _you_. You might as well stop right now and get away from here."

"You don't care how much…," Said Tommy Gun. He pulled back and reached into his back pocket. I watched as he pulled out a—holy shit that's a big-ass wad of cash. That thing has to be like two inches thick. Those aren't one's either. He shuffled through them I can see that they're all hundred dollar bills, with a few fifty's and twenty's here and there. How in the hell did he get that much money?

"How 'bout this much?" He said, waving the money in front of my face. "That enough?"

…damn. _Is _that enough? It's a shitload of cash. It would take me three weeks to make _that_ much money. And he's practically handing it over to me. I know I'd regret not taking it. It's fucking huge. I know I shouldn't take it. My morals would go straight down the drain if I said yes to this asshole.

I can't bring myself to say no, but I'm not saying yes either; I'm just stand there, looking as he waved the money in front of me. He wrapped his free arm around my shoulder (I was too focused on the money to push him off) and continued to wave it in front of me as he started to whisper in my ear.

"Get a good look at all that money. It's beautiful, ain't it?" He whispered. "How long would it take you to make this much. A week? Two? Three? A Month? You wanna know how much money this is? I know you do, I can tell by that look in your eyes." He stopped for a moment and pulled the money back with his thumb and let it go. "Five. Thousand. Dollars."

_FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS? _Is he crazy? _Five thousand dollars?_

"Mmmm, by that look on your face I think that guessed the lucky number," Tommy Gun laughed. "Well? Go ahead, take it. I know you want it. Five thousand dollars for one lay, and hey, you'll have fun too. The money'll be a _bonus_ compared to what I'll do to you. Take it."

I hate him. I swear to whatever God that's watching this that I hate him. There is no one on this Earth that I hate more than his asshole. I want him to die a slow and agonizingly painful death. But damn, that's a lot of money. I jumped when he started to bite my ear.

"I know you're attracted me," He said. "It's painfully obvious." How does he know all this? "What's taking you so long to say yes? It's a easy word to say….just three letters…"

"…_fine,_" I said, snatching the money out of his hands. My morals just went down the drain.

"'Bout time you said yes," Tommy Gun said. He took his arm from around me and I could see a huge smile on his face from winning. "'Cause I know you weren't gonna say no. Doesn't it feel good to say yes to want you _really_ want? C'mon." He took my hand and intertwined our fingers before pulling me into my room. Right before I went in, I could see JoJo watching in the corner of my eye. Shit. After I was inside, he closed the door and locked it. What, is he afraid I'll take the money and run? 'Cause I was about to….

Folding my arms, I watched as sat down on my bed and looked around. What he looking for?

"I bet you dream about me," He said. "Do you have wet dreams with me?" I swear to God…. "Well, aren't you gonna answer my question? I DID buy you…."

"Why do you need to know?" I snapped at him. "You're already getting what you want!"

"I'm just havin' fun messin' with you before I make you my whore. Well? Answer my question."

"Yeah, I do," I told him. "So what?"

"What were we doin' in your dream?"

"Fuck you!" I yelled at him.

"In case you didn't figure it out, I'm doing the fuckin'," He said with a smile. "Answer my question, Scrub. What were you dreamin' 'bout? Or what you rather have me take my money back and leave?" He's taking advantage of this. Just look at that smile on his face. He's enjoying watching me being reduced to this. "You know what, never mind. Come 'ere." Against my better judgment, I walked over to him. He stood up in front of me and moved so that I was between him and the bed. Keeping my mouth shut, I didn't say anything when he pushed me on the bed and sat on top of me, straddling my hips. He kept that smile on his face as he leaned down and kissed me. I'm used to the whole kissing thing, 'cause I don't kiss back. I always let my mind wander off to somewhere.

Which is why I hate that that's not happening now. My mind can't travel this time.

….

…how is he kissing me this good? It's better than the last time, when he caught me in shower. He didn't waste any time sticking his tongue in my mouth either, but I didn't protest. I can't. It feels too nice to push away. And five thousand dollars.

How long is he planning on making this last? Longer than just twenty minutes, I'm sure…

Ngh…..his hands…..there still above the waist. Good. They need to stay there.

He just _has _to move his hands so slow. He's doing everything slow. I can't complain too much 'cause it feels great….I've slept with a lot of guys, I mean, A LOT of guys. Like, I think there are legal whores in Nevada who haven't seen as much dick as I have. But that's what I'm trying to say—_Shit his hands are cold.._—it's just that before it always hurt. This doesn't hurt….

He broke the kiss and pulled my shirt off. And he still has that damn smug look on his face. I just wanna grab a pipe and smack it off. After he tossed my shirt on the floor and took off his own, he leaned back down and started kissing and feeling me up.

…..why the hell are his hands so damn cold? And they're travelling south….not a place where I would want anything cold to touch me…..he's doesn't have the common courtesy to take off the rest of my uniform, he's just ripping it to shreds—_get your hands out of my boxers, you bastard_.

…._Stop gridding against me, that feels good and I don't want it to…_I tried to push him off but he grabbed my hands and pushed them down above my head while intertwining our fingers. And he's naked….know because he's pressing his body against mine….

_Jesus tap-dancing Christ he's huge._

…..  
>….I'm not gonna moan…I swear to God I'm not gonna moan. I'm not giving him the pleasure of reducing me to that. He already knows I'm attracted to him, I still need some dignity. I don't care how good this feels…<p>

"Ngh..ah.."

Shit.

"Heh. I knew you were enjoyin' this," He laughed. "You're gonna be screamin' my name…just wait…" To hell I am. I don't care if you head if banging against the wall because of him. Not gonna happen. I just gotta let my mind go somewhere else, yeah that it. Let's see…..

I have math homework to do…the teacher is giving us more than what he used to, I know I can handle it, but it still. And I know the others are gonna need my help, except Specs….JoJo was looking at me before I was **dragged** in here. Was that worry on his face? Or was it just curiosity? It's hard to tell with those damn sunglasses….do he ever take them off? I don't think he does, even when he sleeps—_Oh my God what was that it was amazing_.

"….T-Tommy…"

I officially hate myself. I'm such a bitch for letting that slip out.

"Told you…" He mumbled.

Fuck it. I've already lost any dignity I had when my morals when down the drain for five thousand dollars. So you know what? I'm just going to let this happen. Whatever moan or scream comes out of my mouth is just going to come out. He knows what he's doing and I'm on the rocket heading towards the moon. Might as well enjoy the trip…

**~*~V~*~**

"After that I feel like I underpaid you."

Pulling out a new uniform I tried to not let what I wanted to yell at him come out of my mouth. I wanted nothing to do with this guy after what we just did. I only want him out my sight for the rest of my life. I don't want to think about what just happened, just move on from it and pretend that it didn't happen at all. But I know he's going to rub it in my face for as long as he can. He's not wasting anytime either. Right after it was all over he's teasing me.

"You should really expand your market," Said Tommy Gun. "Put on the other bracelets. The blue, green, and purple ones. You'd get more customers that way. And I'd come visit you more."

"Fuck you."

"No, _I _fucked _you_," He said with a grin. "Nice try though, scrub." He leaded down and kissed me again before leaving. About time. I need a minute to think after all of that…..now, where did I put that money? Under my pillow.

I reached under my pillow and found the large wad of money that I received in exchanged for my morals, dignity, and self-respect. I wanted to make sure that it was _exactly_ five thousand dollars, so after I put clothes on I began to count it.

$100….$200….$300….

I should go out of business in this trade, just to avoid doing this again. I know Tommy Gun will still come after me, but at least there wouldn't be a reason for me to say yes…..nah, he'd probably still bride me. Where the hell did he get all this money away? Probably has his two little helpers making it for him. Where are those other two guys anyways? I haven't seen them with Tommy Gun in a while…..did they get out?

$2000….$2200….$2400…Dude…what the hell?

I stopped counting because a certain little rabbit found her way into my room and jumped on my bed. She didn't start eating the money. She just hopped right into my lap. I petted her and went right back to counting.

I feel dirty just touching this money. I gotta spend it fast. Just get rid of it. What should I spend it on….I need to get some more things for this damn rabbit, and some candy and cigarettes..

Definitely get some condoms…

"You done doin' the dead?" I looked up and saw JoJo was standing in the doorway. "Thought I told you look out for Tommy Gun."

"I did keep a look out," I said. "I looked out. And when he came over we fucked."

"Yeah I saw," He snapped. "Did you have fun? I'd imagine so, 'cause the door was closed for two hours. Sound like you liked it too. Guess you have to, being a prison whore and everything."

"Dude, what's your problem?" I asked him. "I'm just doing my job!"

"Uh-huh…." He came in a found his pack of cigarettes. He didn't even look at me when he turned to leave, only stopping to pet Duracell before leaving the room. I have enough problems without his attitude….

"You don't hate me do you?" I asked the bunny. She lifted his head up and looked at me. "Good….Better not hate me. I feed you…you _have_ to like me…"

Using a rubber band, I bounded the money together and hid it somewhere that no one would think to look. I'm not touching that money unless I have to. I don't want to think about it, and I don't want to look at it, 'cause as soon as I do I'm going to think about what I did to get that money in the first place. I'll only touch it in case of an emergency.

The irony of it all….

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><p><strong>Since people like JoJo I guess I'll let you all in on a little fact. I made JoJo (and Chauncey) at the same time. They were actually supposed to be friends in the same story that I <em>was<em> going to write for Recess, which would've been a smut fic. It would've been DIRTY FILTHY smut. But that story got cancelled and I split them up. The story most likely isn't going to be made because I'd feel lazy for using the same OCs over again. Still on my mind though.**

**Just when I'm thinking that there wasn't one of those crazy cartoon theorys about Recess, I find a crazy cartoon theory about Recess**

**Donna Nnov: Tommy's partners haven't really gone anywhere, Tommy just sent them away for the time being. They'll be back next chapter.**

**HiddenBehindTheCurtains: Hope you enjoyed that four day weekend! I hope I enjoy mine too. It takes me a week to unwind from school mode. But I hope in that time I can draw a picture of JoJo for you guys, just so you all know what he looks like and post it on my Tumblr.**

**Reviews are appreciated. **


	43. Simple as Sex

**I love breaking the fourth wall just like I do in this chapter. It's epic, just wait and read. **

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Dude, what the fuck is JoJo's problem? He's being a little bitch for no reason. What, is he mad that I slept with Tommy? Doesn't mean he has to be a whiney bitch._

_Well, he's not really whining. Just not talking to me. Still an asshole though._

…_._

…

…

…_.I want the dick. _

**~*~V~*~**

Turning the page in his book, TJ tried his best to ignore the stares he was receiving from the others at the table. After taking Tommy Gun as a customer, he hoped that attention wouldn't be drawn to him, but the exact opposite was happening. The moment he took a step out of his room, the eyes of his friends, minus JoJo, were on him. The twenty questions he was bracing for never came, but the stares stayed, and it annoyed him. It wasn't so much as they stared at him, but that was ALL they did. No conversation, not comments, not even a question, just stares. It's been two days since the event, and they were still staring. And JoJo still had an attitude problem.

"Are you all done look yet?" TJ asked, shutting his book. "I don't think you'll see anymore that you haven't already seen…"

"Sorry dude. It's just that, you know," Said Bandit. "You slept with Tommy Gun. We _hate_ Tommy Gun remember? He blinded you in one eye. And now, two days ago, you fucked him. And it sounded like you actually liked it."

"How would you even—"

"_Oh, oh, oh, oh God. Yes, yes! Oh God yes!" _Bandit mocked, bouncing in his seat. "_Harder! Harder! Faster! Yes! Tommy! Tommy_! _I love it! Oh, yes! More! More! More! I love you! I love you, Tommy! And I love your dick!_"

"…..was I that loud?" Bandit and Specs nodded. Embarrassed, TJ looked away from them to wait for the blush on his cheeks to fade. "This is…..so embarrassing."

"I don't blame you," Specs told him. "Sex is sex. It feels good. It's _supposed _to feel good. Sex with Tommy Gun just feels extra good to you."

"You're not helping," TJ mumbled. "Can we do something else? Like watch TV. Haven't done that in the last three years…" Getting out of his seat, TJ walked over the only TV in the dorm that was hanging on the wall. Followed by Bandit and Specs only, (because JoJo was ignoring his existence for reason unbeknownst to him), TJ waked past the normal crowd and stood on a nearby table to reach the TV. Pressing the buttons, the channels changed and they all looked for something decent enough to drown themselves in.

"What are we watchin'?" Bandit asked him.

"Hell if know…" TJ told him. "I don't know what's on TV these days. Do you?"

"No…but it would be nice to have some sort of idea to what we're searching for."

"I wanna watch cartoons," Said Specs. "I don't care what anyone's opinion of me is after suggesting that we watch cartoons. I still wanna watch it."

"Yeah, I wanna watch cartoons too. Turn to Cartoon Network," Bandit said. "I wanna see if Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy is on!"

"Are you crazy? It's been five years since you saw that show!" Specs yelled at him. "It's probably cancelled!"

"Who would cancel such a great show? They're idiots if they did…," Bandit mumbled.

"That show was creepy anyways," TJ told them, flipping through the channels. "Seriously. I'm watching Courage the Cowardly Dog. If I can find it…"

"How are gonna call Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy creepy, but watch Courage the Cowardly Dog?" Specs asked him. "That show was disturbing as hell. Remember that one episode with that crazy-ass barber? What was his name? Freaky Fred? That episode gave me nightmares. I wouldn't go get a haircut for two months."

"Pussy," TJ said. "That episode wasn't even scary. If anything about that show was scary it was that one episode with the demon in the mattress or that one when they went to the city and saw that one girl behind the door. Swore that bitch looked like Helga Pataki…"

"She did, didn't she?" Bandit laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's watch Hey Arnold then. Turn to Nickelodeon."

"No I don't like that show," Specs said. "It's okay, but it's too much like that one show on Disney."

"What show?"

"You know that one show with the kids at the school?" Specs said. His only replies were confused looks from Bandit and TJ. "They were always out at recess doing crazy shit, like breaking into the school, stealing ice cream, getting revenge on the teachers and some of the students….you know, they had a whole government set up on the playground, main characters were six kids, crazy ass kindergarteners…think they had a movie for it too…"

"What was it called?" Bandit asked him.

"I forget what it was called."

"Sounds lame," TJ said, dismissing them. "We need to find SOMETHING, my arm hurts….."

For ten minutes, TJ flipped through the channels looking for something to watch. He was only paying half attention to what was flashing on the TV, because the conversation being held by the other two was getting interesting. The debate grew with more people getting involved with the sole purpose of emerging victorious. TJ didn't see what the big deal about it was. A cartoon was a cartoon. They're all pretty good. Who could possibly make a bad cartoon? He himself had his favorite shows (Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy, Dexter's Lab, Cow and Chicken, and guiltily, The Powerpuff Girls) but any cartoon was good on a boring day like today.

And what better way to forget about Tommy Gun than mind-numbing TV?

A loud whistle pierced through the air, silencing everyone who was talking, and nearly deafening those who weren't. Turning to see where it came from, TJ saw that Tommy Gun was staring at him while leaning against a pillar. With his arms folded, he waved for TJ to come over. TJ stepped down from the table and, against his better judgment, walked over.

"You guys find something to watch," TJ said as he left the crowd. "I gotta go do something….." Folding his arm, TJ sent a heated glare towards the bully. Wasn't it enough that this bastard managed to sleep with him? Or was this finally the beginning of him rubbing it in? "What do you want?"

"Aww, that's no way to talk to your lover, now is it?" Tommy Gun teased. He reached for TJ's hand, but TJ snatched his hand away just has Tommy grabbed it.

"I'm not your 'lover!'" TJ yelled at him. "Go to hell!"

"You know, I'm in the mood for another piece of ass," Tommy said, ignoring TJ's comment. "Come back with me to my room…I'll pay you…"

"I'm not falling for that one again," TJ snapped at him. "I don't care how much you're trying to pay me. It's not going to happen again!"

"Yeah right. You were screamin' my name! Loud as shit begging for more!" Tommy told him. "You know you want this dick!"

"Whatever." Not wanting to continue the conversation, TJ turned and started to walk away. This was the last thing that he wanted to deal with. A hand grabbed his, and before he could react, he was pulled back by Tommy Gun. He was swung back around, and when he finally stopped, he was pressed against the bully's body, with a hand on his hip keeping him there.

"Why you keep playin' hard to get?" Tommy Gun whispered. "It's cute and everything, but it's gettin' annoyin'….."

"Asshole," TJ mumbled. With Tommy Gun being taller than him, it became intimidating to fight him off, but that didn't stop him from trying. He wasn't going out like that. Not without a fight. "Lemme go!"

"I did let you go," Tommy told him. "My hands aren't on you anymore. But your hands are on me….I see you like my muscles, scrub." Seeing that his hands were on Tommy's chest, TJ pushed himself away and avoided eye contact. "Heh, don't be shy. It's not like I don't already know you like me."

"I don't 'like' you!" Yelled TJ. "I'm just….attracted to you. That's it! And I'm not acting on it anymore!" Brushing him off, Tommy grabbed his hand and pulled him under the stairs and into the shadows. "Hey asshole! Don't you know the meaning of the word 'no?' What part of it don't you understand?"

"I know what it means. I'm just not acceptin' it," said Tommy. The two of them stopped walking when TJ pulled his hand out of Tommy's grasp. "I don't take no for an answer. 'specially when it's somethin' I _really_ want. And I always get what I want. Get that through your head. Your ass is mine. You're my whore now."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

This guy's starting to scare me.

He has on the most disturbed smile right now and his eyes are just **burning **into my skull.

I started to back away from him. He might do something crazy. He's not stepping forward to stop me. This might be my only chance to get away. Just as I began to turn away, my arms were grabbed and I couldn't get away. Who's grabbing me?

Oh. It's the twins. I was wondering where they were.

Tommy Gun approached me. He didn't say anything, but grabbed my chin and forced a kiss. It was short, and he pulled away, moving right to the bracelets that I (stupidly) forgot to take off today. I couldn't pull away from these damn twins because they're just as strong as I am. So I just have to wait.

"Look what we have here," Tommy Gun said in a patronizing voice. "A white bracelet….."

White? I didn't put on a white bracelet.

"Someone's got a dirty mind to wear _white_ bracelets," Tommy taunted. "Even the filthiest of boy-sluts in here don't wear white bracelets...but it's just what we need…."

"We? The fuck is 'we'?" I asked, trying to pull away.

"Don't you remember what the white bracelets stand for?" he asked. Not waiting, whispered the answer in my ear and my eyes almost bulged out of my eyes.

"No fucking way!" I scream. "There is no way that's happening! I didn't even put that bracelet on! You probably slipped it on me when I wasn't paying attention!"

"So? What's your point? You're still comin' with me." He's got a twisted look in his face. I'm not gonna risk saying that he's bluffing. He's not the type of person who bluffs, not now. He grabbed my face and pulled me into another kiss, harder than the last.

"Tell me you didn't love that," He asked after pulling away from the kiss. "Tell me you didn't love that kiss."

…I can't. I loved it. I loved everything about it. I loved every kiss he gave or forced on me. His lips are tortuously soft, and there is so much _passion_ behind each one. God…I can't describe how it feels. It's like I'm sent to heaven when he kisses me.

Why am I attracted to him? I hate that!

"Exactly. You can't," Said Tommy Gun. "Listen, scrub. After having a nice piece of your ass, I realized somthin'. It's not fair that I'm the only one who gets to feel that good. I should share the goodness with my friends here…."

"No!"

"Why not? It's juvie…and you had a dream about it….read all about it in your journal…"

"That doesn't mean anything—" I was cut off by him pressing his lips against mine. His friends let go my arms and I was free, but my arms didn't fall to my side. I pulled Tommy closer to me and deepened the kiss. I couldn't help it.

He's smiling, I just know it.

"See? You do want it," He laughed. "I'll still pay you. It's the exact same thing. Just imagine that you're getting three clients done at one time…"

"I hate you."

"Uh-huh…."

"I really fucking hate you."

"But you love this dick."

"…..."

"And you want some more."

"….shut-up."

"Come get a nice big dick."

If I had killed myself I wouldn't be in this dilemma.

Giving up, I held my hand out in front of him and he took it, leading me into _his_ room. My other wasn't free; the twins clung onto my other arm for dear life.

"Don't worry. We're gonna have fun, scrub." Said Tommy. It's at this exact moment that I hear the theme song to the show that everyone was watching on TV.

_Every day when you're walkin' down the street,_

_And everybody that you meet, _

_Has an original point of view,_

_And I say hey (hey),_

_What a wonderful kind of day…._

'LIES!'

**~*~V~*~**

"Where you goin'? Stay here over night."

"No, just give me my money so I can leave."

I want to get out of here. For fucks sake, I just slept with three guys at once. I need a hot bath. Did I make them use a condom? …yeah. I did. They handed me the money and counted it. I couldn't put it in my pockets because I didn't have any pockets. They shredded my uniform as soon as the door shut. I still have my boxers though. I paid no attention to their pleas to for my to stay and headed for the door.

"OUCH!" I yelled in pain after one of them landed a hard smack on my ass. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I can't leave my personal whore alone," Tommy said, laying in his bed. "I wonder what your friends think of you now. Being a slut and all…."

"They're still my friends," I told him. "Regardless of this. Not that it's any of your business."

"All of 'em? Are you sure?" He asked. "Doesn't look like JoJo's your friend. If you ask me, he looks kinda jealous….."

JoJo jealous? Of what? What's there for him to be jealous of? Of what's been happening between me and this son of a bitch? That's impossible. For him to be jealous he has to want me to pay attention to him only, and h would have to _like_ me. And he doesn't. I know he doesn't. He's not gay or bi or nothin'. When I told him I was bi, he didn't talk to me for what, a whole month. I thought he hated me and didn't want anything to do with me. He completely ignored me. Didn't even look at me or talk to me. He did eventually, and told me the reason he didn't talk to me for the whole month was because he had a philosophical discussion with himself about his beliefs and what I told him. He told me he accepted it, but made damn sure I knew he was straight.

So he can't be jealous.

"Leave me alone, Tommy," I said quietly. "You don't know what you're talking about."

I left the room and joined the crowd that was still watching the TV. I don't care what's on, I just need to get away.

"Have fun with Tommy Gun?"

"Oh, so now you're talking to me?"

I didn't know I sat down next to JoJo when I came over. But at the same time, I really don't care. I'm not trying to start an argument.

"Yeah I am," JoJo snapped back at me. "What the fuck do you think you doin' messin' with Tommy Gun? You have any idea what you getting' yourself into? Or is he just another dick for you to fuck and suck? What about his friends? Did you like their dicks too?"

"I don't have to deal with this," I said standing up. "At least while I was with them I was enjoying it and they weren't being whiney little bitches like you are! What's your deal?" I didn't give him a chance to answer. I left. I don't need this…

But….he is starting to sound a little jealous.

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><p><strong>Had a little <em>'Inception' <em>like moment in there. :P Did you like it?**

**HiddenBehindTheCurtains: yeah, I made them so like, Chauncey was sickingly innocent, and JoJo…..not so much. :P I just love couples like that, but they weren't going to be a couple…**

**Please Review!**


	44. Mine and Mine Only

**Ah, drama. A love-hate relationship that always seems to be around. **

**So the subject matter in the last two chapters (and this one) has been dangerously flirting with the M rating. And I did that on purpose because I'm dealing with hormonal teenage boys. But the chapter after the next is the last of it. Promise. :)**

**But good news! Less than two weeks of schools left! That makes me so happy. No more exams, papers, research, and climbing two flights of stairs to get to my room. And free time. Lots of free time.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_My life was so simple before today. It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. _

_Tommy crossed the line today. I was SO close to killing him. I had to punch the wall to get my anger out! _

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

What the fuck is up with this rabbit? I'm sitting in my bed, minding my own business, writing in my journal, and Duracell hops out of her box and attacks me. She's biting my fingers and pulling my shirt and butting her head against me. She bit me so hard once that I was bleeding. This sounds like something out of that one episode of South Park! Murderous pets. She used to be so sweet and now she's trying to kill me. Okay, I'm over-exaggerating, but still, she's attacking me.

She's starting to act like JoJo.

Speaking of which…..

I guess he's not talking to me now. Not after I slept with Tommy Gun and his goons. But what I don't get is that he has no problem talking to Tommy Gun. Won't talk to his friend, but talks to the person who's selling his friend on the street.

That's a completely different story; I'll get back to that in a second.

He talks to him just about every day. What could he possibly have to talk to him about? Then again, they might not be. They almost got in a fight five times. But enough about them. Something interesting happened yesterday. I called home.

I did. I called home after not doing it for about two years. And someone finally picked up the phone. It wasn't my parents though. I'm pretty sure it was my little brother. He was about one year old when I saw him, and that was a little over a year ago, so he should be two and able to get to the phone. Not to dial it, but if it rang, all it would take is a little climbing to get to it, and two year olds are great at climbing. Especially when you're not looking. But yeah, he picked up the phone and said "hello" in his little voice. I didn't say hi back. I was too shocked to know what to say.

My parents must've seen him and hung up the phone because that's exactly what happened. The phone hung up after a minute.

I don't know what to think about that. I could've talked my little brother that moment, but I didn't know how I feel about him yet. I can't explain it, but I don't know what I think about having one. Not to sound cruel, but I just don't know. Hopefully I will one day.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You hate me," I said to Duracell. She's pulling on my shirt right now. Picking her up I held her. Getting heavier. Or is she just growing? I think she's just growing. It's been a month or two since she adopted me. "Can you leave me alone for a while?" I asked, setting her down in her box. Right after I sat back on my bed she hoped right back out and bit my hand. "OUCH! That hurt you little rat! Goddammit…." Shaking my hand, I looked as she hoped off my lap and over to the papers that I written my homework on and started shredding it. "What the hell are you doing!" I pulled her away from the papers, but she's still trying to get out of my hand. "Do you have rabies or something?" I hear laughter. I look up and there's JoJo, coming into the room and laughing. At me.

"You did this to her, didn't you?" I ask him. He walks past me and sat on his bed. He held out both of his hands and Duracell hoped out of my hands into his.

"I ain't do nothin' to her," He said as he petted her. She calmed down instantly. "She must not like what you're doin' with Tommy Gun. Like the rest of us."

"She's smart, but she's not that smart," I said. "She just like's you better than me. That's it." Our conversation ended when a loud whistle pierced the air. There in the doorway was Tommy, waving for me to come with him. Ugh. "I gotta go."

"Have fun with your pimp," JoJo said as a left with Tommy.

Pimp.

There's a story behind that. Tommy offered me a deal. I wouldn't have to sleep with him (or his friends). But the catch was I had to work for him. As in, _work_ for him. Which was weird because I already 'worked', just for myself. But I can't pick the customers. He picks them. And keeps half the profits. And since I didn't want to be coaxed into sleeping with him (and his friends), I said yes.

I'm not making good decisions with my life.

"Here," Tommy Gun said after we stopped in front of his door. "First one's in the room."

"You're a sadistic psychopath," I told him.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "Just get your ass in there." Folding my arms, I glared at him before going into the room.

**~*~V~*~**

I should start taking drugs before I do this. Serious drugs too, not weak stuff like weed. Pot doesn't cut it anymore. Maybe it would if I stopped smoking it so often, but you sort of have to do it to keep from going ape-shit in here. I only do it like, ten times out of the month. I can stop anytime I want. Really. I didn't do it for six months one time. But yeah, I should start doing some serious drugs. The drugs that Mario takes. I'm sorry, but that plumber must be on some serious 'shrooms to do the shit he does. And there are faces on _ev-er-ry-thing._ I want what he's smoking. But I'm getting off track. I heard Specs said he made PCP. I might have to try that one day. One day.

I should get tested for like every STD out there and ones that aren't confirmed. I'm pretty sure it's not normal to feel like you're pissing the flames of hell. Didn't used to be that way before. Must've forgot to tell one of the _MANY_ people I slept with to use a goddamn condom. Better be curable. The waiting list to see the nurse is ludicrous. Mad thing is, I'm probably not gonna find out who it was. They're lucky as hell because I'd find them and give them a flight out the window via Detweiler Airlines.

My last name is weird as shit. Never liked it. I think it's German. Or Romanian. Probably German, I'm not sure. Though I think I might be Romanian on my mother's side, or was it Swedish…..…enough about that. I keep getting distracted.

I'm not actually sleeping with someone at the moment. I'm waiting for Tommy Gun to get another customer. I'm doing WAY more than I would if I was just working for myself. What does this guy think I am, a machine? There's only so much I can handle in a day….but of course, it's Tommy, and Tommy doesn't care. He just wants his half of the money. At least his friends aren't around. Tommy usually tells them to stay near me between customers, IF there is time between customers. Sometimes they're back-to-back without any time to recover.

…

…hold on. What am I doing being controlled by him? Just because I can't control myself? I need to learn to say no. However attractive he is. And damn, he is attractive. Doesn't mean I gotta sleep with him.

More than a couple times.

And enjoy it.

No. That doesn't have to happen. So when he comes back over, I'll tell him. Speak of the devil.

"Here's the next one," Said Tommy Gun as he approached with another inmate. I recognize him. I saw him when I didn't work for this prick. "Go ahead."

"No," I told him. "You sleep with him if want the money that bad. I'm going back to my friends!"

"No you're not," He said in a voice that was all too calm. "You're staying here with me. Get your ass in the room and make my money." Like I said before, this guy is starting to scare me. But I'm not gonna let that stop me from getting away from him. I turned away to start walking from him, but as soon as I turned I saw that the twins were right behind me. And they had Duracell.

One of them was holding her by the scruff of her neck and she looked like she was in pain because she was thrashing, trying to get out of their grasp, even though she would fall to the concrete floor. I'm not an expert on rabbits, but you're not supposed to hold one like that!

"Stop holding her like that!" I screamed at them. "You're hurting her!"

"They'll let her go when you get your ass in that room," Tommy Gun said. "Go."

"I'm not going anywhere! Give her back!" He just laughed and snapped his fingers. The other twin who wasn't holding Duracell by the neck (and at this point the only thing holding me back from killing them) pulled out a point knife and held it near her neck.

"STOP HOLDING HER LIKE THAT!" I screamed at them. "LET HER GO! DAMMIT, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS? GET OVER HERE!" I screamed, calling out for the others. Where are they when I need them? Clutching my fist, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I didn't need to turn around to know who's hands it was.

"If you don't want her to hurt, get in the room," Tommy Gun whispered behind me. "I have no problem skinning her and making myself a hat out of its fur."

"You're an asshole," I hissed at him. "TELL THEM TO STOP HOLDING HER LIKE THAT!" He must've signaled them to stop because they changed how they held her. The twin that was holding her held her in his hands, but he was still holding her too tight and she was trying to get out of his grasp. Not to mention the other twin was still holding the blade of the pocketknife near her. "They better put her back when I go."

"They will," He said. "Better make up your mind though. Your customer is getting impatient."

I can't let them hurt her. I can't. Duracell's just a rabbit. Not even that. A bunny, a little baby bunny. Probably not even a year old. And she's trashing for her life like she knows they're going to kill her. She's innocent in all this. Just look at her! She's scared to death of them! I can't let them kill her.

So I turned around and headed towards the room.

"You two can put the rat back now," Tommy Gun told the twins. I looked over my shoulder and saw the twins put away the knife and hold Duracell gently. I would've looked longer, but Tommy put his hand on the back of my neck and turned me back around. They better put her back. I swear to God if I don't I'll kill all of them. Slowly and painfully.

Just as I was turning to go into the room, I heard a loud metallic BANG. Disregarding Tommy Gun, I turned around to see what happened. I swear time slowed down when I looked.

JoJo was standing behind the twins, clutching a metal pipe that was dripping blood. The twins themselves were falling to the floor, and Duracell wasn't in their hands anymore. She was in the air and falling. Pushing Tommy aside, I ran to try and catch her, but I'm not going fast enough. Diving, I hope it would be enough to catch her. I don't want to find out how much it would hurt her to fall from that height. It wouldn't be so bad if it was outside, on dirt and grass, but this is concrete. It hurts _me_ when I fall and when I get on my knees to look under my bed…..and do other stuff.

When I landed I opened my eyes to see if I was close. I couldn't see her. Time started to go back to normal speed then. I got up and tried to find her on the floor. No luck. A tap on my shoulder made me turn around lightning fast. The world was lifted off my shoulders when I saw Duracell being held (comfortably) by Specs. He caught her!

I walked towards him to hold take her, but my attention was drawn to JoJo who was beating the shit out of Tommy Gun. It was a fair fight until JoJo got the upper hand and was on top of him, punching him faster than Tommy Gun could defend. I watched until I felt something soft hit my stomach. I put my hands under where I was hit a caught Duracell before she fell.

I see she loves me again.

Hmm. She's shaking. Scared. I don't blame her. You'd be scared if you had a knife to your neck and couldn't get away.

I know what that's like…..I was scarred too.

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

After JoJo was satisfied with the beating he gave Tommy Gun, TJ and the others walked past the twins on the floor (who were in tremendous pain) and into his room. Right way TJ attempted to put Duracell in her box and put her somewhere that she was comfortable and felt safe, but as soon as he was close enough to the floor, she hopped out his hands and ran under his bed, hiding between the boxes.

"What's she doing?" TJ asked as he looked under his bed. "Why is she hiding?"

"She's just scared," Specs explained. "She was hurt by those guys and she's scared. So she's hiding."

"She'll come out on her own then?" asked TJ. He reached between the boxes and gently petted Duracell on her head. He smiled when she didn't flinch or show any sign of being fearful of him.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. Might develop a phobia of sharp objects, but she IS a rabbit," Said Specs. "A few hours or a day or two and she'll be back to normal. Don't force her to come out. She'll come out to eat at the very least."

"And she likes to sleep in my hair," TJ laughed. "She'll come out for that. She doesn't like sleeping on the hard floor."

"'Cause she like's your hard head." They all faced the door and saw JoJo coming in with new scratches and bruises. "Still hard, but not as hard as the floor."

"Thanks for saving her JoJo," TJ said. "She would've been dead if you didn't step in."

"Yeah, I know," JoJo said arrogantly. "Make sure it doesn't happen again." Smiling, TJ sat down on the floor to get a better view. She stood there before turning and hopping further between the boxes.

"I'm gonna stay here and wait for her to come out," TJ said, searching for his pet. "Make sure she doesn't get into trouble again. Don't wanna risk it, you know?" The others nodded and sat down nearby to wait. An hour passed, and the bunny still didn't want to come out, though she would come out from between the boxes when TJ tried to reach for her. A few more hours passed and Bandit and Specs left, leaving JoJo and TJ to deal with her. Hearing the sound of pages turning, TJ knew that he was alone in his mission. There was no persuading his roommate when he was reading. Not wanting to give up, TJ stayed on the floor and pulled out his journal to avoid being bored. He wrote, looking up every few lines to see if Duracell was still there and if she was coming out anytime soon.

Focusing on writing down his thoughts, TJ paid less and less attention to his pet and more on his journal. He had plenty to write after today. He was trying to move his hand faster enough to keep up with his racing thoughts. It wasn't working, but he was still trying before his thoughts left him.

His thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when a familiar bunny plopped herself on his journal and made herself comfortable there.

"It's about time you came out from under there," TJ said as he scratched her behind the ears. "I hope you know you can't sleep in my journal. I know you've been through hell today, but that can't happen. You're gonna have to settle with sleeping in my hair."

He put her in her box and sat in his own bed, happy that she wasn't under his bed. He couldn't sleep knowing that she was under him, even though he wasn't directly on top crushing her. After he wrote the last few sentences in his journal, TJ put on top of the shelf along with the others and lay in bed.

He peeked over the edge of his bed to see if Duracell was going to make her usual leap on his bed and on top of his head. Instead, she was perfectly content munching on her food.

'This rabbit is gonna be the death of me,' he thought as he watched her. 'Must be what it's like to have a kid. I'm going soft…..' TJ stretched to try and get more comfortable in his bed. While his eyes were open, he was able to see JoJo on his own bed reading. The scratches on his arms and face from the fight were slightly bleeding, but JoJo wasn't going anything to stop out clean them.

"You're bleeding," TJ told him.

"Mmm-hmm."

"That's not good."

"It's just small cuts. Nothin' serious."

"I have a first-aid kit."

"S'not that serious," JoJo said as he turned the page of the book he was reading.

"They're going to get infected. Just let me clean them so they won't," TJ insisted. "This place isn't the cleanest place in the world, 'specally with a rabbit living in here. You wanna get sent to the hospital _again?_"

"You not gonna leave me alone about this are you?" TJ shook his head. "Fine, _mom_. Get the first-aid kit." Successful, TJ reached under his bed and pulled out one of the boxes. Inside, a small plastic case labeled 'First-Aid' was on top of everything. He took it and searched for the rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. He dabbed some of the rubbing alcohol on the cotton balls and cleaned the cuts, starting with the ones on his face.

"Shit! That stings!" JoJo yelled, pulling away.

"It's rubbing alcohol. It's supposed to sting. It means it's working," TJ said matter of factly. "Haven't you ever use rubbing alcohol before?"

"Peroxide," Said JoJo. "Alcohol burns like hell."

"Peroxide kills the good germs too." TJ ended the conversation and continued cleaning JoJo's cuts. "And this is all I have. Stay still." Reluctantly, JoJo obliged. TJ was done in less than ten minutes and moved back to his side of the room.

"Thanks for that," JoJo said after five minutes passed.

"I should be thanking you," TJ told him. "Duracell would've been a fur hat if you and Bandit and Specs hadn't come over."

"That's what blood brothers are for."

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><p><strong>Exams are a bitch. But next Friday (or Thursday if you don't count moving out) will be the last of it! It's not even exams, most of my classes are just having me write papers. And that makes me not want to see my laptop, or type. But I won't go on hiatus. I REFUSE TO UNLESS ABOSOLUTLY NECESSARY. But enough about my life….<strong>

**Please Review!**


	45. The Form

**I forgot to do something in the last chapter, but it's not the story. It's going along just fine.**

**I forgot to thank all my reviewers for well…..reviewing this story! Over one-hundred reviews is quite a success and I wouldn't have been able to do it without you all! Thank you all for reviewing! And for those of you who choose not to review, I still thank you for looking at this story at all! Knowing someone somewhere in a country halfway across the globe or even in my country is reading this puts a smile on my face! Thank you!**

**Read On!**

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><p>TJ didn't like surprises. Nope, not at all. This hatred of things unexpected evolved through being stuck in Duval for three years without much to do. With little to do to occupy his time, he got used to doing it, and anything that threatened to disrupt him put him in a bad mood for approximately one week. This was true for any case. It was true when Spinelli and Francis arrived, it was true when Alex returned from his vacation from the Bermuda's, it was true when he was found guilty and sentenced to jail <em>until he turned twenty-fucking-one<em>, it was true when Duracell adopted him, and it was true when Tommy decided to ruthlessly flirt with him on a daily basis.

So he was sure that there was nothing that would be a 'good' surprise to him.

But, being the arrogant prick he tended to be, JoJo proved him wrong with a single sheet of paper.

He held the paper in front of him and read over it, but skimmed over the bottom. He knew it was the paper that the guards handed out a while ago. With the grudge between him and JoJo, he wasn't able to get until after Tommy Gun was removed from the equation.

"Application for Probation," TJ read out loud. "They give us this all of sudden. Is it even worth applying for?"

"They're not puttin' a gun to your head to fill it out," Bandit said, putting down a few of the cards he hand on the small pile on the table. "You don't have to fill it out."

"It wouldn't even be worth it," TJ said to himself. "As soon as they see my name they'll throw it out. They think I set a school on fire!"

"Then don't fill it out!" JoJo yelled at him from across the tale. "Stop bitching."

"I'm not bitching, I'm just…..I don't know." TJ paused to rub his forehead and run his fingers through his bleached hair. "Isn't probation when you serve the rest of your sentence outside of jail, but have to never get in trouble or they'll throw you right back in?"

"That's it," Bandit told him. "Exactly."

'Spending the rest of my sentence in Third Street? That could be fun,' TJ thought. Surprising everyone that Third Street with his sudden arrival took TJ from being surprised to a gleeful mood that could only be compared to what he assumed sadists felt when they got their way. The thought of scaring the shit out of everyone when he sets foot in school after they felt safe for three years put a smile on his face. He wanted to crush their dreams of peace by simply _being _there. And all he had to was fill out this one sheet of paper. It wasn't guarantee, but there was still a chance.

Then there were his friends. TJ didn't want to leave Bandit, Specs, and JoJo in here if they didn't get out too. That didn't feel fair to him. They've been in there longer than him. If anyone deserved to get out of there, they would be his first choice. Maybe it wasn't worth it.

"Is there a due date to turn this in?" TJ asked the others.

"The end of the week," Specs said. "Today's Wednesday, you have until Sunday."

"Plenty of time to think." TJ said to himself. "I need to think…Did you apply?"

"Everyone applies," JoJo said. "No one wants to stay in here so they're takin' every chance they get. I know I did." Bandit and Specs nodded in agreement.

"But aren't you worried that you'll get denied?" TJ asked them.

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot," Specs said. "If we get accepted, then that's great. If we don't then that's okay too because we have each other here."

"That's a good way at looking at it," he said. "I'll be back in a minute." Leaving the table, TJ went into his room in search of a something to write with. He was absolutely sure that he wasn't going to be approved for parole. Why would he? The kid who made everyone's life around him a living hell (except Prickly, he was only person who still kept in touch with him without being forced). The kid who his parents where more than happy sending him away to a reform school and didn't seem sad that he was in juvie instead. The kid who lost his friends because he liked inflicting pain upon them, along with everyone else. No. No one wants that kid to ever see the light of day again. It was bad enough that that kid was getting out when he was 21, but to get out early, that was not an option.

Then again, if he wasn't going to be approved, it wouldn't hurt to apply anyways.

He found a pencil on the windowsill and a book on his bed. Grabbing both, he started to write down the information that was needed on the form. While writing, he looked over to the box Duracell was in. He saw that was sleeping.

'She's been sleeping a lot,' He thought. 'Probably nothing…' Brushing it off, he focused on the form in front of him. He wrote what was asked for; name, birthday, age. TJ didn't stop until he saw that the form asked for his conviction. He knew what the word meant; that wasn't the problem at all. He merely did not like to talk about why he was there.

It was bullshit in his eyes. He didn't set that damn school on fire, but because what everyone else thought about him, he got the blame and won't be free until he reached the age of 21. He was essentially growing up behind bars. Eight years.

The odd thing about it was is that he could easily call the last three years the best of his life.

_Arson_, he wrote.

After he wrote down the five letters that spelled the word, he couldn't help but think about it.

Fire. He loved fire. He plays with the flame from his lighter when he was alone. He would run his finger back and forth through it to know what it _feels_ like. It started out as a fascination when he was a child and lighting those cats on fire (though he would never do the same to Duracell). It made him smile and put a joy in his heart that he had never felt before. Now it's an obsession, an obsession he could barely manage when he was lighting a cigarette. It was border lining being called a fetish. There was nothing that could make him feel the same as when he was looking into a flame.

'I wish I was there to watch the school burn,' He thought as he tapped the pencil on the paper. 'I bet it was beautiful. Too bad I missed it. I'm such a pyromaniac...and I love it.' Closing his eyes, TJ thought back to last night. It was one of the many where he woke up in the middle of the night with a pitched tent in the sheets. He had dreamed about fire, and it was a wonderful dream. It was just one of the many times he dreamed about being surrounded by fire. Others would call that a nightmare, but it those dreams were the best ones.

A small, but growing, part of him _wanted_ to be the person who set the school on fire. He wanted to be the person who created something that big and beautiful. Who wouldn't? But everyone would think he was crazy. Well, crazier than they already thought he was.

Something light landing on his shoe brought TJ out of his reminiscing. He didn't need to look to see what it was. He just picked up his pet and sat her down next to him.

"I would never set you on fire, Duracell," He told the bunny. "You're too cute." He scratched her behind the ears before going back to filling out the form. The front was finished, so he turned it over and filled out the back. It was mostly asking about grades and school. That took a few minutes to fill out, and once he was done, he scooped Duracell up in one hand, put her back in her box, and joined the others outside.

"You guys know who I'm supposed to give this to?" TJ asked them.

"The guy at the commissary," Bandit told him. "I'm about to go and buy some cigarettes. Give it to me, I'll take it."

"Thanks," he said, handing over the form. When Bandit left, he scanned over the entire dorms from where he stood. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but TJ still had a feeling that something was waiting to happen. He didn't have a clue to what it was or if it was true, but it was a feeling that he couldn't shake.

"Somethin' wrong, Freckles?" JoJo asked him.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, JoJo," TJ said absentmindedly. "I just….need to read…."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Yeah, that's all I need. A book. Right…..where'd I put down that Plato and Platypus book? Think I left it next to Duracell's box.

I walked back inside my room and found it right where I thought it would be. Picking it up, I turned to the page with the corner folded so I remembered where I left off. I like this book. Kinda too philosophical and up its own ass, but good. Sure as hell helps me understand my other books.

I'm on the chapter about free-will. It says that we don't have a choice about thinking whether or not we have free-will. It's like if there isn't free-will and we're all destined to do what we do, then we don't need morals. That we're all molded to do everything we do because of some outside force controlling us and that we can't help it. That would be a really great excuse to get out of trouble for what I did.

But I did what I did. I made everyone miserable through what I enjoyed. Am I sorry? Yes. Still….

I regret nothing.

I had fun. I'm not going to regret having fun. To this day, I don't regret doing it. I'm sorry for what everyone went through, but I don't regret doing it. They all did something to get on my radar, my friends, the students that I didn't target, my parents….they all did something to piss me off. That something made me want to hurt them. Not like I hurt those cats, no. I didn't want to set them on fire. I dreamt about setting their clothes on fire and watching them die while begging me for help, but I didn't want to.

It was fun. What can I say? What do they want me to say? Do they want me to apologize? Do they want me to make it up to them? Do they want me say I'm sorry for doing it? I'm sorry it happened to them, but I wasn't going to stop just because they asked me to. They got to have fun. I want to have fun too.

It's not like I was killing anyone; what was the problem? Did they expect me to stay like that goodie-goodie I used to be? I hate that. I used to be like that. USED TO. I changed. It happens. Get over it. The part of me that they miss so much isn't going to come back. I'm a pyromaniac, pyrophile, and I'm border lining psychopathy. And if when I turn 18 and Mr. Simmons says I'm a psychopath or a sociopath or whatever, then I'll be one.

Mr. Simmons says that the only things keeping me from being labeled a psychopath are my emotions and age. Otherwise, I fit the profile; charming, charismatic, manipulative (I got him to sneak me in Chinese food on more than one occasion), impulsive…..or is that sociopathic? I dunno. Whatever.

Hmm. Took him a long time to figure that one out. Everyone at Third Street figured that out years ago. For fucks sake, I hung a kindergartener over the edge of the school roof. Shouldn't take that long to figure out. I thought I was a psycho when I was twelve. At least now I actually have emotions about what I do. Back then, you couldn't pay be to give a damn about the harm I was causing other people. That's an improvement, I think.

Heh, I remember stealing Galileo, Gretchen's old handheld computer thing, and breaking it with a mallet in front of her. She loved that thing, and cried when I broke it. I laughed at her for being attached to such a stupid little toy. No remorse. No regret. I walked away feeling nothing for doing that.

I wonder how expensive that thing is. That was like, in the 90's. They have better computers that are smaller than that thing was. She's smart, she could build a new one.

Then there's my parents. I blame them for half of this. They raised me. They had to have something to do with the way I turned out. They have to.

That reminds me. I gotta go make a phone call.

It's been three weeks since I called home and had that little incident with my little brother. I haven't called back yet 'cause I wasn't sure if I would get through. This time, I want to make sure. It's the same day of the week and around the same time as the last time, so he should answer, right? Hope so.

I dialed my home phone number and waited as the phone rang.

…..

….

Someone picked up the phone.

"..Hello?" That's him. That's my little brother. And little voice. I told myself that I was going to answer back this time, and I'm going to.

"Hi," I said. "How are you?"

"…..M'fine," He answer.

"W-what's your name?" I asked him. I want to know what my little brother's name is. I don't want to keep calling him my little brother and not having a name for him. He's not answering. Have my-no, our parent found him on the phone?

"M'not 'posed to tell strangers my name," He said quietly. "Sowrry." Smart kid.

"No, it's okay. You're very smart for not telling me your name," I told him.

"Tank you, sir."

"You're very welcome," I said, keeping my voice from cracking. "It was nice talking to you, even though I don't your name. But I have to go now, okay?"

"'Kay," He said. "You call back soon?"

"…yeah. I'll call back soon. I promise. But I have to go now."

"'Kay. Bye-bye Mister Stranger."

"Bye-bye." He hung up the phone and I did the same soon after.

God…..why am I crying? I leaned my back against the wall next to the phone and slid down to the floor. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I folded my arms and buried my face in them. I'm crying my eyes out after talking to him. I haven't even met the kid and he's making me cry. Shit…

Shit, shit, shit!

"S'wrong Freckles?" I brought my face up and saw JoJo in front of me.

"Nothin'" I said after wiping the tears away from my eyes. "I'm fine."

"No you are not 'fine'," He said. Not taking my answer, he sat down next to me. Persistent bastard. "What's wrong?"

"I have a little brother. Found out when we broke out and I looked inside my house," I explained. JoJo only nodded. "Three weeks ago I called home and he picked up. I didn't say anything. I just called him and talked to him for a little bit. I don't know why I'm crying because of it."

""Cause you miss him," JoJo said. "You don't know him, and you don't even know what he looks like, but you miss him. 'cause he's your little brother and you want to be there for him but you're not and your missing out."

"…how the hell do you know so much?" I asked him. I forced a laugh out as a wiped the tears that were still pouring down my cheeks.

"I'm a older brother, I case you forgot," He said. "I have a little brother too. He's not with us anymore, but I'm still his brother and I know what it feels like. You'll be okay, Freckles. If I'm okay, you'll be okay."

"He wants me to call him again," I said, crying. I didn't even bother to try and stop myself. "He knows nothing about me. He doesn't know that I'm his brother, if he knows he has a brother, but he wants me to talk to him anyway. How am I supposed to respond to that?"

"Call him," Said JoJo. "That's all you can do."

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><p><strong>Sorry for not updating last weekend guys. I've been extra busy with school. But as a gift for you all on by birthday, I put this chapter up!<strong>

**Please Review**


	46. Forbidden Fruit

**I'M FREE! THREE AND A HALF MONTHS OF PURE FREEDOM! WOO! Now that I got that out of my system, I can get back to business. **

**Moving is a pain. You swear you don't have as much stuff as you do when you see it while packing. Ugh. Next year, I'm not bringing half this crap. Just unpacking alone leaves me too tired to type. But I push through, for my readers. **

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I'm thinking about changing my religion. I have nothing against Judaism or anything. I just don't think it's the one for me. I don't which one though. Or maybe I won't pick any. That's always an option. Maybe something traditionally eastern…._

_I just thought of something. Tommy Gun is at least two or three years older than me. I'm 16, he would be 18 or 19. How is he still here? He should've been taken to jail by now…I don't know if that's just me wanting him to be gone or I'm just bitching. He needs to go. I'm tired of him. He doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no.'_

_Fucking pervert._

_I'm coming to a point where I'm sorting out individuals that I'm mad at and those I have no reason to be mad at. There are some people out there, at Third Street, at I have nothing against whatsoever._

**~*~V~*~**

"You would think they would've found you by now and took you away. But nope, that doesn't look like it's gonna happen, not that I want it to. I'm just saying that the guards do a really shitty job on watching the inmates. I snuck _you_ in here three months ago and your still here. If they were doing their jobs, you would've been gone by now. Maybes it's all the crack I'm selling them that makes them so stupid. What do you think?" TJ's only answer was Duracell chewing on his t-shirt. Typical.

Since his first encounter with the animal, TJ had gone from loathing the rabbit and the affection everyone had for it, to naming her after a battery and calling her a friend. She couldn't respond to his questions like the guys could, but it was nice to have someone to talk to who would just listen without any predisposition to judge in any way. And he needed that. Just someone to talk to, how would just listen. He knew it wasn't healthy to keep his thoughts inside his head all the time, and he could only write in his journal so fast.

"You're only thinking about how soft my shirt is," TJ said as the small animal on his chest curled into a ball and started to sleep. "Yep."

"Hey Freckles! Can you get me that book on my bed?" JoJo shouted from outside the room.

"Yeah, hold on," TJ answered. Carefully, he picked Duracell off his chest and placed his in her box. Grapping the book on the opposite bed, he walked outside the room, only to turn around to make sure Duracell wasn't following him. She wasn't.

"Here," TJ said , handing JoJo his book.

"Thanks," Said JoJo. "Hey, you like how this looks?" He handed TJ a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and saw words written in detailed calligraphy.

"It's okay. Why?"

"'Cause I'm gettin' that tattooed on my arm. It's my little brothers name. I wanna make sure it looks okay."

"How are you going to get a tattoo in this place?"

"I just am. You can watch if you want," JoJo offered. "But then you might want to get one."

"No thanks," TJ said handing the small sheet of paper back to JoJo. "Not into tattoos."

"Suit yourself," Said JoJo. "Watch out for your rabbit." TJ turned around and saw that Duracell was just hopping out of his room. He kneeled down to catch her when she came close enough.

"You're so clingy," TJ told the rabbit. "I'm not gonna abandon you. You don't have to follow me around all the time. Or do you want to see the others? That's probably it; you just miss _them…._.they did convince me to keep you." Sitting down next to JoJo and across from Bandit and Specs, TJ placed Duracell on the table and let her roam around as she pleased. While he let his pet explore, TJ watched as JoJo talked to another inmate who approached with a bottle filled with some sort of black liquid and a small box of needles. Just how was JoJo going to get a tattoo? And wouldn't he get an infection?

'And get sent back to the hospital _again_?' TJ thought to himself. 'Whatever. I'm gonna go make a phone call.'

"Make sure she doesn't fall off the table," He said as he started to walk away. "She's kind of clumsy when she's this excited."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I don't know my brother's name, but I know a few things about him. Just a few.

I know he's smart. I've been calling him at the same day and time for the last three weeks and he's picked up all those times. Our parents didn't catch him all three of those times. Clever kid. I wonder if he's like me with all my cleverness and mischief. I had a conversation with him one time about how he got in trouble for drawing on the walls. I told him that he shouldn't do that and if he keeps doing it he's going to keep getting in trouble. He tried to explain that he was expressing his soul and that it should be encouraged, especially at his age and that it's healthy for a growing brain. Where is he getting this stuff?

He still hasn't told me his name. He refuses to. It's okay though. I just like talking to him. The last time we talked for ten minutes.

He's shy. I can tell just by his voice. I don't know how shy a normal two year old usually is, but I can tell by his voice. The little guy is soft spoken. And I'm left choked up each time we talk.

Dialing the numbers on the payphone, I wait for him to pick up. What are we going to talk about this time?

"Hello?" He said answering the phone. "Mr. Stranger?"

"Yes, it's me, Mr. Stranger," I said, smiling. I didn't give him a name but he wasted no time giving me one. "How are you doing?"

"M'sad," He said. "I fell a-and I broke my wist."

"You broke you're wrist?" I repeated. "How did that happen?"

"I wanted to get somethin' off a bookshelf but I couldn't reach it so I climbed to get it and I slipped and I fell," He explained. "It hurt really really bad, I was crying."

"Oh, I'm sorry you broke your wrist. You're okay now, right?"

"Yeah I'm o-kay. I gotta cast," He said. "My sisser wrote he name on it and drew a picture for me. It's pretty."

"Your sister? You have a sister?" I asked. Of course I know he has a sister. Becky. He knows her at least. I'm pretending that I don't know because I don't want it to slip out that I'm his brother. I want to know if he knows that he _has_ a brother.

"Yea, I have a sisser. She's nice," He said. "Sometimes." Heh, sometimes. That's what I used to say about Becky. I may have a deep hatred (or it could be more of a disappointment) for my parents for essentially abandoning me, but I have nothing against Becky. She had nothing to do with me being here. She was at college at the time I was sentenced. I trashed the whole house, but I left her room alone because I have no anger towards her. Even if she doesn't visit me, I'm still not gonna be mad at her.

"Do you have a brother?" I asked him.

"….mm….momma and daddy say I have one but he had to go 'way for a while," He said. "That's why he's not here." So he does know about me. Mom and Dad did something right. About time.

"That's good. Every little boy should have a big brother to protect them from all the bad things in the world."

"Then why isn't he here doing that for me, Mr. Stranger?"

Shit. I walked straight into that one. What do I say…?

"I don't know. Maybe he can't. I'm sure he wants to be there protecting you, more than anything in the world, but maybe he can't for some reason. Maybe he did something…..something really stupid….and he can't be there right now," I said. "What do you need to be protected from?"

"….mmmm…bully…"

"A bully?"

"Hmm-mmm. At daycare. He keeps pulling my hair and makin' me fall and getting' me in trouble 'cause I like to play with the girls at daycare and not the other boys," He said. "I try to be nice to him but he keeps doing it. So I pushed him in the mud and he stopped but I'm still in trouble for doing it."

"Well I don't think you should get in trouble for defending yourself…."

"Me neither. I gotta go Mr. Stranger; momma and daddy are gonna find me on the phone and I'm not 'pposed to be."

"Oh, okay. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"'Kay. Bye-bye." He hung up the phone, and soon after I did to. Sweet kid. I've got to meet him one day. And do my job in protecting him. I'm not going to let my anger towards my parents get in the way of meeting him. He's innocent in all this. I have a lot to learn. I gotta learn what he's like, what's his favorite color is, his favorite foods, what he's afraid of, his favorite sport (if he likes sports), all that stuff.

Now I actually want to get out on parole. I have a job to do.

Fighting back the tears that were threatening to pour out of my eyes, I walked back to the others. By now JoJo was getting the tattoo he was talking about. It looks like it hurts. The guy who's doing it is doing by sticking the tip a needle back and forth in his skin, stopping after a few times to dip the tip of the needle into ink.

Okay, he's just asking to get infected.

As soon as I sit down, Duracell hopped over and laid down in front of me. Petting her, I couldn't help but watch as the tattoo JoJo was getting slowly grow from something I couldn't make out to letters forming a name.

"Joshua? Is that your brother's name?" I asked him.

"Mmm-hmm. That's him," JoJo said paying half attention. "You talk to your brother?"

"Yeah, we talked. He knows about me," I said. "He said our parents say he has a brother that 'had to go away for a while.' I'm surprised they would mention my existence. Either they told him or my older sister Becky did. I'm more inclined to believe Becky told him and he asked our parents about me."

"At least he knows," He said. "It's somethin'. Somethin's better than nothin'."

"I know. I just didn't expect him to know. I didn't tell him I'm his brother. He might tell our parents on accident. I was just curious," I said. "Doesn't that needle hurt?"

"Hell yeah it hurts," JoJo said, flinching. "But I want it more than it hurts to get it." Before I could say anything else, I felt Duracell nibbling on my fingers. It doesn't hurt; it's like a light pinch. She only does that to get my attention when she's out of her box and hungry. I told the others that I'll be right back after I put her in her box. While I carried her she continued to nibble at my finger. Hmm….

I wonder if my brother likes animals….

I sat her down in her box and she went straight to her food. Right before I turned to leave I heard the door slam shut, and I know I didn't swing the door to close it. And that only means….

"What I wanna know is, why is my favorite scrub avoidin' me?" This guy doesn't know when to stop.

"Don't you know when you're not wanted?" I snapped at him. "Get the hell out of here!" Rather than leaving, Tommy Gun came closer. His friends weren't there (thank God) so I knew that at the very least Duracell wasn't going to get hurt, but I still stood in front of the box to protect her. "How are you still here? Your 19 years old!"

"I know some people, pulled a few strings...don't worry 'bout that," He said, getting as close to me as he could. "I just wanna spend some time with my favorite scrub." Next thing I knew, he had his lips pressed against mine.

I hate that he's a good kisser. Fuck…..

With one quick shove, I pushed him off of me. He didn't fall to the floor like I wanted, but there was five feet of space in between the two of us. I watched as he looked at me with one of his creepy-ass smiles on his face. Sends chills up my spine. He didn't say anything or even walk towards me. He turned, and left the room (but not before winking at me).

Eww.

Now that he's gone, I don't feel safe leaving Duracell here by herself. It's okay though; I have homework to do anyways…..

I grabbed my math book from under my bed and opened it to the chapter my class was on. I must have some sort of talent for math because I was pushed up again to a harder class. My last math class was Algebra II, and I was pushed up into that from Algebra I. Now I'm in…..what's on the cover of his book…?

…..Trig. That's it. I'm in Trigonometry now. Doesn't even seem like math, in my humble opinion. Even the textbook is smaller than the last few classes. I read of the assignment, and since it's due tomorrow, I'm not going to have time to finish in time to go back out there and hang out with the guys. I shouldn't have wasted my entire weekend being high….

Oh well. I was. Nothing I can do about it now. I have to deal with it and get this homework done.

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><p><strong>I have a question! It's an opinionated question so there's no right or wrong answer, but it might change the course of the story. Do you all think that TJ should get out on parole? I'm unsure if I want to have him out or not.<strong>


	47. Philosophers Hat

**Something weird happened to me when I was typing this chapter. **

**I forgot that I was writing a Recess fanfiction. Seriously, I forgot. It was weird. This semi-dark, depressing roller-coaster of a story is for an innocent show like Recess. It's a strange feeling, but I kept writing. Just a thought.**

**Go Forth and Read On!**

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><p>"So I applied for parole last week, but I know I'm not going to be approved anyways. Since there's no chance I'll get approved, it would hurt to do it. But now I'm hoping that I get approved because I called home one day after two years of not calling and my little brother picks up. I know he's my little brother because when I broke out along with every other inmate here, I made my way back home and looked in my window and saw that my room was redecorated and there was a baby in a crib. The first time I called he picked up and I was afraid to say anything, but I called back again and we talked for a little bit. Now we do that every week and our parents don't know about it. If they did, they wouldn't let him near the phone. I learned so much about him and now I know I have a job to be there for him and protect him. Even if he's safe as he could be, I have to be there for when he has nightmares, a monster under his bed or in the closet, or when he wants something that's too high for him to reach. I'm a big brother now I have to get out of here and <em>be<em> a big brother. And I'll make sure that I do a great job too. My little brother will love me."

"Wow. I honestly didn't think that having a younger sibling would make you change this much, Detweiler."

"Me neither, but there it is."

The day after he had another conversation with his brother, which also fell of his seventeenth birthday, TJ needed to have a serious conversation with someone other than his friends or pet rabbit. The only two adults that he trusted at this point in his lift were Mr. Simmons and his former principal. Because Mr. Simmons was assigned to him by the courts to keep track of his mental stability, he trusted the man a little less than Prickly. The guy was nice and decent enough, but the fact that the court assigned him, and the courts screwed him over, brought him down on the list of people to trust. So he called his former principal to talk. The topic of their conversation was the parole that TJ had applied for.

"Hey, since I was sort of a big deal at Third Street for, you know, supposedly lighting the school on fire," TJ said, relishing in the memories that what he said brought up. "Has me applying for parole been in the news? I would think so."

"No, it hasn't been in the news," Prickly said. "But if you get out, it will be, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah. I could just see the look on every ones faces," said TJ. "They'd run for the hills. I wonder if could request them to keep this a secret."

"I think you can. How old are you now, seventeen? You're still a minor, and I think they're obligated to keep your status somewhat of a secret."

"I hope so. Oh, did I tell you? I have a pet rabbit now." TJ told him.

"A pet rabbit? How did you sneak a pet rabbit into Duval?" asked the former principal.

"I didn't sneak it in. it followed me in here from outside," said TJ. "All my friends wanted me to keep it and now it's rubbed off on me. I named her Duracell."

"….you always were a creative one, Detweiler."

"Thank you, sir. I promise, if I get out, I'll pay you a visit for once," TJ said. A loud visit from one of the guards caught his attention. "I gotta go. They're about to make us go work outside. I'll talk to you later." Quickly hanging up the phone, TJ got in line with the rest of the inmates. From where he was standing, he could see JoJo, Bandit, and Specs in the line ahead of him. He already knew why they all were in line.

The line moved forward, and made it outside. The sun was shining, except for the few intervals when the clouds blocked it. As the line continued to move, the guards split the line every ten inmates. TJ wasn't grouped with JoJo and Bandit, but he managed to be grouped with Specs and avoid Tommy Gun. His group stopped in front of a patch of ground covered in weeds and wilted flowers, with gardening tools and fresh unplanted flowers next. Landscaping.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

This must be their way of saving money. Having the inmates do the landscaping and not hiring someone else to do it. We've been doing this for the last few weeks. I don't mind. It's kind of relaxing, and I love the extra time we get outside, working or not. It's not too hot out here either. We're out here to make Duval look pretty.

Because God forbid it looks as horrible on the outside as it is on the inside.

I put on the gloves that they gave us (they only give us these now because Specs and five others broke out in hives from touching poison ivy), I started pulling out the weeds from the ground. It's not so much that they're hard to pull, it's that there's so many to pull at all. I have help from the other inmates grouped with me, plus the conversation I was expecting to have with Specs to pass the time.

While I pulled the weeds, I kept I eye out for a certain little furry creature. I wouldn't put I past Duracell to sneak out here. Then again, she doesn't follow me when I tell her not to, and I told her not to before I left.

"I can't stand physical labor," Specs said, tossing the weeds aside. "This should be illegal."

"Then you should go take it up with one of the guards," I said. "You might get pistol whipped, but if it's that important to you…."

"It's not worth getting pistol whipped over," Said Specs. "I lost a tooth the last time I complained. Could you blame me though? These living conditions are atrocious."

"I think they make it like that on purpose," I said, pulling out the last weed. Finally. Now we can do the easy part; planting. "Did you see that guy kill himself yesterday by snatching one of the guards gun and shooting himself, like, four times? Why didn't it work the first time?"

"The first time he shot himself it was in the abdomen," Said Specs. "Most of your organs are in your abdomen, but there's a small chance he could've missed them all. The second time he aimed for his brain, which is smart—or dumb, but he placed the barrel on his cheek bone. Would've been fine if his grip wasn't shaky. The bullet when through his nose and out the other side. Then he place it under his chin, but his grip must've been shaky and went through his mouth."

"That guy can't aim for shit then," I said as I dug in the dirt. "Christ."

"The last time he pointed to his head and that killed him. Should've done that the first time. Or bought some cyanide from me to avoid making a scene."

I know some people would call us crazy for believing this, but I think that sometimes, at least in here, suicide is the best option. Now here me out.

It can be a virtual hell in here.

Fights, abusive guards, inedible food, no one's visiting you, claustrophobia, stir craziness, rape, drugs, and seeing _other_ inmates kill themselves. Then there's the white rooms. Being stuck in the room with buzzing lights 24 hours a day, lack of any type of food, not being able to go the bathroom when needed, kids screaming from lack of human contact….madness. It's nothing but madness.

Oh God, Johnny. I miss him so much…he didn't deserve to die.

Or maybe that was for the best.

He was tortured for the years he was in there. There was no way for him to ever adjust to normal life again. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm sure he would have PTSD for the rest of his life if he was still alive.

But it was hell. He and many of the other inmates who tried to kill themselves and succeeded were in their own personal hell and they're only guilty of looking for an escape. They weren't getting out of here anytime soon. They had sentences extending into actual prison. And they knew they can't handle it.

So is it so wrong that they took the only way out that they knew? Yes, their deaths are tragic, but it's not their fault. It's either suicide, or hell for the rest of their lives without any chance of recovering. What would you do?

Don't get me wrong, I think that overall, suicide is a terrible thing. But here, it's the lesser of two evils.

I know from experience. When I tried to kill myself, I felt nothing but relief. No more of this daily bullshit. I knew that I was going to die (although I didn't). I know it was bad for someone to kill themselves, but I needed to get out of here by any means necessary. No one was rooting for me to get the help that I needed, and the only voice that I had, and still have, was a demon beast telling me what a fuck-up I am. Luckily it didn't work and I was taken to the hospital where I got the support that I needed. Not from my parents, but from my former principal. And I'm eternally thankful for that. That's all the inmates in here need, but most don't get that.

That's why I believe suicide can be the best option sometimes.

Patting the dirt around a flower I just planted, I took a deep breath. I only had one more to plant and I'll be done. Right on time too; rain clouds are coming in.

"It's so boring inside," I said, digging a small hole in the dirt. "What are we gonna do when we get inside?"

"Play Monopoly?" Specs said with a smile. "I want to play after losing to JoJo the last time. I just had to land on Park Palace. No one lands on those places! And he had three houses on them! It was a statistical impossibility! The fuck?"

"It's just a game, dude. Relax," I told him. "That sounds like a good idea though. Playing Monopoly, I mean. I want the top hat." Falling raindrops and a whistle from the guards signaled the time for the inmates to go back inside. When we came back into the dorms, I told the others about playing the board game and Specs left to get it from his room. Before he came back, I noticed something on the door to my and JoJo's room. The same thing was on a few other doors too, including Bandit's and Spec's. I walked over and pulled it off. They're envelopes and there's two. Hmm. One's labeled with my last name, 'Detweiler', and the other is what I'm presuming is JoJo's last name, 'Johansson'. Sitting down at the table, I gave JoJo his and started opening mine.

Let's see….there's a piece of paper inside…

It's the application for probation form I filled out almost a month ago…

With a big red 'APPROVED' stamped at the top.

**~*~V~*~**  
>"They don't really want to let us out. They just need extra space, so they're getting rid of some of us for newer inmates. That's my theory anyways," Said Specs after he moved his piece across the board. "What do you all think?"<p>

"I don't care what it is," I said, rolling the dice. 12! Ha! I'm buying the railroad! "I'm getting out. Did you guys get out?" Bandit and Specs nodded. "What about you JoJo?" He was busy look through the papers he received. He didn't get form back, he got something different.

"My lawyer sent me this letter," JoJo said. "He said my case is being looked at again because they found new evidence that was withheld. I didn't get approved, just this. But if I'm lucky, I'll get out. Do you know when you're leaving?"

"It says next Friday for me," I said. "I need to find someone to pick me up."

"Next Saturday for us," Bandit answered. "I hope you get off, JoJo. It'll suck if you're in here by yourself."

"I'll manage…I still got the girls…" I felt a tug that the bottom of my uniform. I didn't look as reached down and scooped Duracell off the floor and placed her on the table in front of me.

"Guess what, Duracell? We're getting out of here," I said, petting her. "I'm gonna get you a huge cage, not just a box to live in. We should do something to celebrate this. Let's get drunk."

"On what, Freckles? Air?" JoJo snapped. "There's no alcohol in here."

"Look, at least I made a suggestion. What your idea, 'cause you know, you're so damn smart?"

"Let's get high."

"No."

"Why the fuck not?" I only answered him by petting Duracell. Someone has to be sober and watch her. "Well then shit, we're not celebrating then."

"Just try to have fun for the next week until we leave," I said. "That's all we can do. And we _better_ stay in touch! I didn't become friends with you assholes just to never talk to you all again. Fuck that. I mean phone calls, letters, all that shit. We're staying in contact. And visiting JoJo if he doesn't get out, though we do hope you get out JoJo. We're not gonna be like everyone else who say's they'll visit but never does."

Nope. I'm not gonna let that happen. I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of that. I'm not going to inflict it on someone else. Even if we all get out, I'm not going to forget about these people.

That's not gonna happen. Not on my watch.

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><p><strong>Parole! And change of environment! Hoorays! I can say that the next chapter will be the second half of this story! About time, it was taking FOREVER. And now it's finally here!<strong>

**Reviews are Appreciated! **


	48. Brother Pt 1

**The halfway point of this story is here! It feels incredible, but I'm afraid of rushing to the end since it's downhill from here. If you all think it was dramatic in juvie, you haven't seen anything yet! The plans I have in store...**

**This chapter has two parts, this is the first. It'll go fast in some places, and slow in others, but only when it's important. The next will be the second half, which is the part everyone's waiting for.**

**Read On!**

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><p>Passing a pair of dark shades between his hands, TJ waited for his ride home to arrive. He sat on the ground outside of the gates of Duval next to a box that held the few things he wanted to take home with him (books he's read, journals, the clothes he wore when he arrived at Duval for the first time, including his hat) and the box that Duracell called home. Said rabbit was resting in his lap, instead of inside the box. TJ has been waiting for only ten minutes and knew that he would have to wait a lot long for his ride to arrive. He was informed by another letter taped to his door that his parents were informed about his release and were told to pick him up. The wait seemed to last forever, as the idea of seeing his parents for the first time in four years made him feel a mixture of anger and fear.<p>

Knowing that today would be the day that he would leave, he had spent the night before after lockdown talking to JoJo. They spent the night talking about their time in Duval, doing the occasional drug, beating up whoever crossed them, planning and breaking out of Duval, then travelling across the state in one night. Those were the best memories that had in juvie.

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

"I gotta hand it to you though, Freckles," JoJo said as he sat on his bed, exhausted. Leaning over the edge, he scooped Duracell out of her box and placed her on his bed. "No one else had the balls try and break us out. And you did it. I respect you for that."

"Thanks. I think it could've been better though," Said TJ. He was on his knees, looking under his bed. "It was only for one day. I was ready to stay out there for as long as I could."

"Yeah, but we would've got in more trouble than it was worth. Least now you're out legally and you can't get in trouble."

"Yes I can. They have a three strike rule here," TJ said as he got back on his feet. He held in his hands a large blue book. "If I get in trouble three times with the law, for small stuff like stealing or getting into fights, they'll throw me in jail and I can't get back out on parole again. Sucks, huh?"

"Of course that sucks. It's complete shit, but you better not be planning on getting in trouble anyways," JoJo said. "You got a little brother to protect. You better not get in trouble."

"I'm not, I'm not. Geez, doing you think I know that? I'm staying out of trouble."

"Good."

"I got something for you," Said TJ. He handed over the large blue book. "I know _I'm _going away, but I still wanted to get it."

"What's this?" JoJo asked, taking the book. He looked over the cover and read the title. "_The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_?"

"I heard that book is hilarious," TJ told him. "Thought you'd like it."

"Thanks, Freckles," JoJo said. "And I didn't get you anything…..mmm….here." TJ watched and saw something he never thought he would see. Right in front of him, JoJo took off his black shades. JoJo blinked a few times before opening his eyes. A pair of bright green eyes were staring back at TJ. "Take 'em."

"…you never take those things off," TJ said with a nervous smile. "You're giving them to me?"

"That's what I'm doing," JoJo said. "Take 'em." Still surprised, TJ took the shades from JoJo and looked at them.

"A-are you sure?" TJ asked again, take back by the bright green eyes his roommate had. "I know how much they mean to you."

"It's fine, Freckles," JoJo said as he ran his fingers through his dreadlocks. He brushed them across his face until they were in front of his eyes, replacing his shades. "That's my going away gift. Don't break 'em; they're good luck. Oh, hold on…" JoJo turned a reached to his shelf, taking off a small white unlabeled box. "Here. This is from Veronica. She wanted me to give this to you." Taking it, TJ opened it and looked inside. There were contact lenses, pairs of every color of the rainbow, including the blue he wore for a month.

"…Tell her I said thanks," TJ said as he took them out the box. "I think I'll need these."

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

TJ carefully placed the shades in the box. He wanted to keep his promise and not break them. The book he gave away was different. After reading books for years, he knew that books were supposed to be worn in. it meant that it was a good book. The shades were a precious item and he was going to make sure he didn't break them.

A small gust of wind made him cover Duracell protectively until it stopped. Checking his watch, he saw that it was ten minutes since the last time he checked. A pinch on his fingers told him that Duracell was getting hungry. He reached inside the box, taking out a few pieces of timothy hay. As soon as he placed it in Duracell's reach, she started to eat. Have to get her some more of this stuff. He had her wrapped around in several of his t-shirt because it was January, and even though the winter was unusually warm, he didn't want her to get cold. He didn't have a jacket for himself, but he wasn't going to start bitching about it.

The sound of wheels driving over the dirt road ahead of him caught is attention. Carefully holding Duracell, he stood up and looked to get a better view of the black car pulling up. The car stopped in front of him, and the driver's door opened.

A woman in her early twenties stepped out of the car. Her dark brown hair was up in a high ponytail. She wore a pair of dark jeans with a blue coat. TJ had to blink a few times to make sure he was looking at who he thought he was.

"Becky?" He asked, still unsure.

"Don't you recognize me? I know it's been four years since we last saw each other, but I was hoping that I still looked familiar," She said with a smile. "Of course I'm your sister! Who else would I be?" TJ stood as his sister came over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Don't rush to hug me back…." She joked.

"I couldn't," Said TJ. "I'm holding something and I can't drop her." Becky looked down and saw the small bunny in his arms.

"Where'd you get the rabbit?" She asked. "Never mind, we can talk about it in the car! C'mon, you must be freezing out here with no jacket."

"Can you hold her for a minute? I have a box and I can carry both," TJ said, handing her Duracell. As she held her, he carried his box and placed it in the back seat. After he was done, he took his pet back and joined his sister in the car. The car roared back to life and the two of them were riding down the road away from Duval.

"So how are you? It's been four years! When I found you were locked away until you were 21, I thought I wouldn't see you until then," Said Becky. "What have you been up to?"

"I got in trouble for something I didn't do," He said. "Someone lit the school on fire, and I got the blame."

"So you're not the one who set the elementary school on fire?" She asked, surprised. "Mom and Dad said _you_ were the one who set it on fire."

"They lied," He told her. "I didn't do it. But of course, they're not here confronting me about it. Why aren't they the one's picking me up?"

"Oh, you don't want me to drive you home?" She joked. "No, um, there's a reason why I'm here and they aren't. But I should start from the beginning. Are you ready?"

"I spent the last four years of my life in juvie, seeing things I thought I never would. I think I'm ready for anything, Becky," He said. "What is it?"

"We have a little brother," She said, keeping her eyes one the road. "He was born about a year after you were put away. He's three now. He's shy, but he's really sweet. Mom and dad had to take him to the doctor and couldn't reschedule, and they asked me to pick you up instead."

"Hmm...Becky, can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"I called home and he picked up the phone," TJ said. "We've been talking for the last couple months and mom and dad don't know about it. Only for ten minutes at a time, though. And he doesn't know who I am; I'm just Mr. Stranger to him."

"Wow, really? And mom and dad know nothing about this?" He shook his head. "That's amazing!"

"He's a smart kid. Can't wait to see him. Still," He said, looking out the window. "One of them could've went to the doctors and the other could've gotten me. I haven't seen them in four years, either. They haven't answered my phone calls, letters, or anything. Bet they won't recognize me when they see me again."

"I almost didn't recognize you," She said looking over at him. "Last time I checked, you had brown hair, not blonde. What happened?"

"A friend of mine in Duval bleached it without me knowing," He said. "It grew on me and I wanted to keep it. So I did. But I doubt that the blonde hair is the most important thing. Since you're my sister, I'm gonna ask you to excuse my language, but I've been through some shit."

"Tell me about it. We've got two and a half hours left in this car ride. We've got time."

"I tried to kill myself."

"Wait, _WHAT_?" Shocked, Becky stopped the car in the middle of the road. Their car was the only one on the road, and they weren't stopping traffic. "You tried to _kill _yourself? Please tell me I heard you wrong."

"You heard right. I tried to kill myself," He repeated. I traced the scars left on his wrists from the incident. "I slit my wrists. It didn't work, obviously; I woke up in the hospital. I didn't try to do it again though."

"And mom and dad don't know about this?"

"No. They didn't visit me when I was in the hospital. My old principal did," He said. "He visited me when I was cut over my left eye and was blinded from it too. They don't know about that, either."

"Damn. Now I'm mad at them for that! They said they didn't want you to get home sick and that not visiting you would help you adjust faster, but this is ridiculous! I mean, you tried to kill yourself!" She said, pulling his into a hug. "Are you okay? You're not thinking about doing again, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. And no, I'm not going to do it again, promise," He said, hugging her back. "C'mon, we're in the middle of the road. A car is gonna come along some time…."

"Oh, right. Sorry," She said, starting to drive again. "Don't ever do that again. There ARE people out here who care about you. I'm one of them, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Thanks."

"Guess what? Dad gave me his credit card," She said, pulling it out of her pocket. "He and mom told me to take you shopping and get you some new clothes since your old ones are too small. If it makes you feel any better we can max out his card."

"Mmm…maybe. I have my own money though," TJ said taking out a debt cad. All the money he had on his card in Duval was transferred onto it.

"And how did you make money? What job do you have?"

"Drug dealing." He ignored the look on his sister's face and continued. "I had to make money in there somehow. I'm not going to keep doing it now that I'm out, okay?"

"Okay. Just how much did you make?"

"….about….ah…$70,000."

"Damn, what kind of drugs where YOU dealing?"

"Good ones. I needed to make money. What'd you expect?" He asked. "Before we go clothes shopping, can we stop by the pet store? I need to get Duracell a cage. I don't want her to sleep in a box anymore."

"Duracell? Is that your rabbit's name?" He nodded. "How'd you get her in the first place? I don't think they let you keep pets…"

"She followed me inside. My friends wanted me to keep her and she won't leave me alone. I'm used to her now," He said. "But she needs a cage."

"Yeah okay, we'll do that," Said Becky. "You probably, want to stop home and set it up for her too, right? We can do that. No problem."

**~*~V~*~**

Closing the cage, TJ grabbed the last piece of trash on the floor and put in the box that the cage came in. He and his sister had gone to the pet store, and bought Duracell a new cage. TJ picked out the biggest one they had, and put it together against the wall of his room. His room was now Becky's old room, and Becky had moved out into her own apartment across town. It was the same size as his old room, making the adjustment easier. Boxes were stacked against the wall, filled with his old things. A full-sized bed was also against the wall. His parents had yet to arrive home, not giving him the chance to see them or his little brother. He watched for a few minutes as his pet hopped around in her cage, digging, and going in and out of the hutch he placed inside.

"She's looks happy," Becky said, standing in the doorway. "Ready to get some new clothes and out of that hideous uniform?"

"Mmm-hmm. I'm ready," TJ said walking towards the door. Before he left his new room he stopped in front of his sister and pulled her into a hug. "For earlier, when I couldn't hug back." He said. "Let's go."

**~*~V~*~**

"I think this would look good on you. What do you think?"

"I think….I think I have enough shirts."

Upon arriving at the mall, TJ had to keep up with his sister as they travelled from store to store. Although he had only worn a uniform for the last few years, he wasn't in a rush to change that. he had gotten used to wearing the blue and then orange uniforms. However, he did understand that he needed new clothes. The points and stares he was receiving as he walked through the mall was enough to convince him, though Becky has doing most of the shopping for him.

Currently, he has holding four bags filled with newly purchased shirts, jeans, socks, boxers, and hoodies, as well as the five Becky had just picked out for him.

"Can we buy something else? Like shoes? We haven't bought me any shoes," He suggested. "I could use a comfortable pair right now…"

"Right, shoes. Got to get you shoes," Becky said, tossing the shirt into the pile he was holding. "Okay, let's buy theses last shirts and we'll go get you some shoes." The two paid for the shirts, and moved on to the next store, where Becky proceeded to pick out the shoes she thought would look best of her brother. Unlike the shopping done before, TJ was interested in shoes. Shoes were the only part of his wardrobe he had control over. First pair he had gotten where a pair of girls shoes, and all subsequent pairs he had gotten when he outgrew the last where girls shoes. Though they were comfortable, he wanted to get some boys shoes.

"Can I get these five in a size ten?" He asked one of the salesmen in the store. The salesman nodded and headed to the back of the store, taking the shoes with him. While he waited for him to return, TJ sat down next to his sister on of the benches. "Are we anywhere close to done?"

"That depends," She said. "What else do you need?"

"What else….I saw a book store somewhere. I want to look in there. And a music store too. Do you know some place that I could get a hat?" He asked.

"I think so. There should be a place in here, somewhere. We'll get it done," Said Becky. "What's on your mind?"

"Why'd you ask that?"

"Because you look like you're thinking about something," She said. "Something important."

"It's nothing, really. I just….really need to go to the doctor….and the dentist…there's something wrong with my blind eye. I used to be able to move it like normal when I moved my right eye, but it won't move. Something's irritating it too. I think it's infected…it's been like this for a while. And I have like, five cavities and my wisdom teeth hurt like a bitch. They don't give you medical care in juvie….," He told her. "I need to see a doctor _soon_, as in I need to see one two years ago."

"Then tell mom. She's get you an appointment. Then you'll be in top shape. Well, more than you already are," She said, squeezing his arm. "That chubby little kid turned into a muscular man. Work out, huh?"

"Yeah I work out. I had too. If I had to fight I, I had to make sure I could win," He laughed. "Chubby? I wasn't chubby!"

"Oh you were _chubby_. You were definitely chubby, TJ. Did you forget already?" She joked. "You had a lot of baby fat."

"But I wasn't chubby!"

"Yes you were! You can't tell now, but you were! Or do you prefer I call it something else, like pudgy?"

"Okay, okay. I admit, I was a little chubby," He said, defeated. "It was cute at that age. But yeah, I started working out. Didn't expect it to give me these muscles though." The salesman came back with the five boxes of the shoes TJ asked for. His conversation paused long enough for him to try on the shoes and pick out three more pairs. After paying for the shoes, they moved on to the next store.

**~*~V~*~**

"Hurry up, TJ! I want to see how it looks!"

"How fast do you except me to change clothes?" TJ asked her. He stepped out of the men's bathroom at the mall with his new clothes on and his uniform in the shopping bag. Becky refused to let his leave without changing into something besides his uniform, and he found himself being pushed into the bathroom. He stepped out with a pair of dark blue jeans, a dark gray shirt with a cartoon-style lightning bolt, a white hoodie with a fire design on the back, black and grey shoes, and a black visor beanie with his blonde hair tucked underneath. "I can only move so fast. How do I look? Not that I care, but I'm sure you do."

"You look great! Much better than that hideous uniform."

"If you say so. Can we go home now? I want to put all this stuff away before tomorrow."

"Okay, we can go home now."  
><strong>~*~V~*~<strong>

As he stepped inside the house, TJ struggled to carry the bags of clothes. He was strong, but the number of bags he had was at least twice as much as he expected to get. When they puled up to the house, they saw another car in the driveway, and knew that their parents where home. TJ didn't want to see them right way, and planned to go into his room before they has the opportunity to talk to him.

"Mom? Dad? We're home!" Becky called out. She didn't have the same plans. He walked up the stairs, though struggling with the bags, and head to his room. He could hear Becky talking to their parents as he walked down the hallway. He used his arm to push open the door. he expected to only be met with a happy bunny in her cage. And he was.

He was also met with a very small boy with a mop of black hair sitting next to Duracell's cage.

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><p><strong>Dun Dun Dun! Cliffhanger! I'm just so evil, aren't I? Don't worry, the next chapter will be up soon, I promise!<strong>

**Donna Nnov: I know! Time flew by so fast for him! And now he's 17 years old. I can't believe it and I'm the one who's writing this.**

**Please Reviews!**


	49. Brother Pt 2

**I love this chapter, and I know you all will, too! It's just adorable. But there are serious points here and there, which will continue into the next chapter. For the meantime, let's all enjoy the cuteness, as brief as it is.**

**Read On!**

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><p>The sound of the door creaking as is opened echoed against the walls. The sound of the door creaking was enough to draw the attention of the small boy that TJ couldn't help but look at. The small child turned around from looking in the rabbit cage and looked at him with shock and fear in his bright blue eyes. TJ, who still was carrying the heavy shopping bags, didn't know how to react.<p>

When he and Becky arrived home, they saw that their parent's car was in the driveway and that they were home. In the rush to get upstairs and into his room, his forgot about his brother being home as well. He didn't expect the child to be in his room of all places, but there he was, in his room sitting on the floor.

Neither of the males said anything out of surprise at the other being there. Though he hadn't said anything, TJ thought he was already doing a bad job as a big brother, because the child seemed like he wanted to run out of the room as fast as his legs would let him. He didn't want to scare his little brother, but it was clear that he was doing it without trying.

"Uh….hi," TJ said, breaking the silence. To ease the tension between the two of them, he wasn't to start a conversation with his brother. He didn't get an answer back; his brother inched away from him instead. TJ placed his bags on the floor and slowly made his way over to his brother. He sat next to him on the floor, and leaned against his bed. He felt relieved when his brother didn't try to move away from him again. "Do you know who I am?"

"…no," The little boy whispered. He wore light blue jeans, a large white shirt with the shoulder of the shirt falling off exposing his right shoulder, red shoes with the laces undone, and a long necklace with a pacifier on it.

"My name's TJ. I'm your big brother," he said. "Have you heard about me?" His brother nodded. "Good. I haven't heard about you. What's your name?"

"Mmm….my name's Zackary David," Said the boy.

Hearing that name made TJ pause. Zackary David. That was the same name of his former principal's deceased son. What are the chances that his brother would have the same name, and hell, _look_ a little like him? TJ saw a picture of his principal's son one day. He had messy black hair, bright eyes, and a smile on his face. Besides the eye color and smile (although he planned to make his brother smile all the time), this Zackary looks a lot like him. But it's just a coincidence, right? It couldn't possibly mean anything.

"You call me Zack. Momma, daddy, and Becky call me Zack. You my brother," Zack said pointing at TJ. "You call me Zack, too. 'kay?"

"Okay, Zack. It's nice to meet you. You were looking at my bunny," TJ said. "Do you like her?" Zack nodded. "Do you want to pet her? She like's being petted, and I think she likes you." He unlocked the cage and reached inside to pick up Duracell, who all but leaped into his arms. First, TJ held her for a couple of seconds, then he gently laid her on Zack's lap. He was worried that Zack would pet her too roughly, at that he would hurt Duracell. He was proved wrong when Zack petted her softly, Duracell didn't try to get away. "She likes you."

"What's her name?" Zack asked.

"Her name is Duracell."

"Can I call her Dura?"

"If you want to. I don't see why not." As he watched Zack pet her her, TJ could see that Duracell's fur was not as white as it used to be. It was dingy, and it was matted in areas. Taking a mental note to give her a bath later that day, he focused on making his brother happy.

"Fluffy bunny," Zack laughed. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the top her head. "Stinky bunny. Bath time for Dura?"

"I'll give her a bath later. Right now, I have to put away a lot of things and unpack. But you can keep playing with her while I unpack, okay?"

"'Kay." Smiling, TJ got back on his feet and started to put away his clothes. Every few minutes he would look over at Zack, who was occupied with Duracell. Soon, Duracell hopped out of his lap and started to hop around the room to explore. He held back a laugh when Zack followed her around the room, calling after her to come back. The day promised to be a long one; unpacking, getting to know his brother, giving his rabbit a bath, and the part her dreaded the most, seeing his parents for the first time in for years. That alone was going to stress him out.

"TJ! TJ! TJ!" Zack shouted while pulling on his jeans. "Can you help me, please?"

"Sure. What do you need help with?"

"I gotta get somethin' off a shelf, but I can't get it 'cause last time I tried I broke my wist," He said. Zack reached up and took TJ's hand and started to lead him out the room and into his. When the door opened, TJ was met with papers and crayons scattered on the floor, mostly around a small plastic table and chair in the corner, baby blue walls (one of which was covered with pictures Zack drew), a bed, and the bookshelf that Zack was pulling him over to. "Can you see the coloring book?"

"Yeah, I see it. Is that what you want?" Zack nodded. Kneeling down, TJ picked Zack up and lifted him high enough to reach the coloring book himself.

"You're really strong," Zack said after he was on the ground again. "Thank you."

"No problem. You like to draw?" TJ asked him. "You have a lot of pictures in here…."

"I like to draw with chalk…and crayons, but I like chalk betterer," Said Zack. "I can't draw with chalk 'cause it's cold outside and I can't draw on the walls. I draw on the chalkboard at daycare though….I'm gonna draw you a picture, 'kay?"

"Okay. I have to go finish unpacking, but I'll be in my room if you need me, Zack."

'This whole big brother thing is easy,' TJ thought as he went into his own room. 'I don't know what I was worried about….' He put the last of his new things away, and found that he still had plenty of room left in his closet. He didn't think he needed anymore clothes, but whenever Becky (inevitably) was going to come in, she would drag him out the house and back to the mall.

Thinking that his parents would come up and talk, he passed the time by going through the boxes that were stacked around the room. The first box he looked in held all his old comic book. He could help but read a few of them before moving on to the next box, which held his own clothes. He debated with himself if he should keep them for when Zack grew up, or if he should give them away.

"He's a small kid, even for his age," He said to himself. "I'm not sure if he'll fit these when he gets older….and style changes too…hmm…" A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. 'Look who it is. It's either now or never, though I have no problem with avoiding them…' He thought.

"Come in," He said, not turning to face whoever it was that was at his door. the sound of a pair of feet stepping into his room hit his ears before stopping.

"TJ?" Hearing his name being called, TJ took a deep breath a slowly turned to face both his parents. His mother was the closest to him, and had tears in her eyes that were waiting to fall. His father was behind him, but TJ didn't spend longer than a second or two looking at him.

"Hey."

Within a blink of an eye, he was being crushed by the tight hug his mother was giving him. The anger he had held towards both his parents had long ago simmered away into disappointment when he had a better hold and understanding of his emotions. But he didn't hug back. He absolutely refused to. "I hope you know I have questions that need answers," He said. "Until then I'm just no able to show any affection towards either one of you."

"Yes, we understand," His mother said, forcing herself away from the one-siding hug. "You must have a million questions to ask us, and we're going to answer all of them. Have you met—"

"TJ! TJ!" His mother was interrupted by Zak running into the room, calling his name. TJ kneelt down when Zack came to a stop in front of him. "I drew you a picture!"

"Can I see?" Zack handed him a piece of paper with a rough drawing of a bunny on it. "This is a really good picture, Zack. Is this Duracell?"

"Uh-huh! Can we give her a bath now?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, we can give her a bath, now," Said TJ. "Can you go and get me a towel? I'll meet you in the bathroom with Duracell."

"'Kay." Zack said before running out the room.

"I have a rabbit," TJ said, walking over to the box Duracell was sitting by. "She followed me into Duval and she won't leave me alone. Her name's Duracell, and she rubbed off on me. Zack likes her, too. Can we talk about this later? She needs a bath." He didn't give his parents time to answer since he walked out of the room with Duracell in one hand and a plastic bag in another.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Fuck I love spaghetti. Ate the whole damn plate in twenty seconds flat. Can you blame me? All I had to eat was prison crap for the last four years. Mom made a lot of it though. Good thing; I'm on my sixth plate. This whole meal is a delicacy compared to that prison food, and I'm going to eat until I can't eat anymore. I deserve to eat like a pig.

Zack's looking at me. Heh, he's trying to eat as fast as me too, getting tomato sauce all over his shirt.

"Chew your food," I told him I said between bites. He slowed down right away. Good kid. Great artist, too. That picture he drew me was amazing. So would never guess that a three year old drew that. It's no Picasso, but it's damn close.

"So, TJ, how are you?" Mom asked.

"Hungry," I said, getting my seventh serving. "But that's not what you're talking about, is it? Are you asking about my state of mind? Fine I guess. More philosophical than I was when I went in. Not as, as everyone here at Third Street might put it, batshit insane as I used to be. Still have problems. I'm a pyromaniac, but I'm trying to keep that under control. Should I start from the beginning? I think I should…it can get confusing if I don't start from the beginning." I took a few bites before talking again.

"When I got there for the first time I met a guy named JoJo. He became one of my best friends in Duval. He helped me adjust faster than I would have on my own. He bleached my hair blonde, and I liked it. He bleached my hair, and he taught me how to tighten his dreadlocks in exchange for it. Then I met this other guy named Tommy Gun. These aren't their actual names, by the way. He kept bullying me and gave me those bruises on the left side of my face that you saw when you two visited me for the first and _ONLY_ time, but we'll get to that soon enough. Tommy Gun and his friends kept bullying me until he was transferred over to the older dorms. JoJo introduced me to his friends, Specs and Bandit. There was another guy named Box, but he was only in there for a month or two. The four of us because really close in the last four years. Then one day Tommy Gun came alone with his friends and he," I paused to cover Zack's ears. I don't want him to hear this. Call me overprotective. "Took out a pocket knife and cut me from the left side of my forehead, across my eye, and to the bridge of my nose. I was blinded in my left eye from that." I took my hands off of Zack's ears and continued to eat. "I can't see anything through my left eye. I had to go the hospital over that, and I had expected to see you guys there, but you obviously weren't. But like I said, we'll get to that later. Then I got put into these rooms called the white rooms. They put inmates in there for no reason at all, and people go insane in there. I met this one kid, his name was Johnny. He was in the room across from me. He was a sweet guy. I think I loved him. But he's not here anymore. He's gone, by his own doing. I was just like the rest of the other inmates in the white rooms losing their mind. After I was out from there," I paused again to cover Zack's ears. He doesn't mind. He keeps on eating. "I didn't think I could take it, and I tried to get out the only way I can. I tried to kill myself. It didn't work, 'cause I'm still here. But you guys weren't when I was in the hospital. My old principal was. You remember him, right? Principal Prickly? When I was in the hospital, he was there waiting for me to wake up. I didn't try to do it again though. After that, I got into some illegal stuff that I don't think you all want to know. That's about all I'm ready to tell you."

The whole time I talked I didn't look up from the plate I was eating off. I didn't want to look at them. Not right now. I can tell they're staring at me. Is it in shock? Probably.

"So," I said, looking up at them. "Do you mind telling me why I haven't seen either one of you in four years?"

"We thought it would help you adjust to Duval better," Dad said. "Without us to make you home sick, you could focus on adjusting to Duval without us as a distraction."

"It wouldn't have mattered. Principal Prickly visited me twice out of the month and it didn't change how I adjusted," I told them. "It anything, it helped. I called home, no one picked up. I mailed letters, didn't get a single reply. Do you know what that's like? I mean Christ, some contact with my parents would be nice everyone in a while. But most inmates don't have that sort of contact anyways. Don't bother apologizing. It's nothing against you two. The value of 'I'm sorry' to me plummeted in Duval. I'd rather _see_ an apology than hear it."

"Momma says you should always say you're sorry when you do somethin' bad," Zack said quietly. I should've waited until he was asleep to talk about all this.

"I know, Zack," I said, running my fingers through his inky black hair. "But this is different."

"C'mon, Zack," Becky said, picking him up and out of his seat. "Let's get you cleaned up." She walked out of the kitchen, carrying Zack with her.

"I need to go to the doctor and the dentist," I said, turning away from watching Becky leave with Zack. "My eye, the blind one, it won't move. It's stuck. I think it's infected. And I have a bunch of cavities and my wisdom teeth hurt. So…yeah. That's all I got."

"We _are_ happy that you're back home with us, TJ," Said mom. "We're were thrilled when he got the letter in the mail that you were coming out on parole."

"So was I. But you must know that I'm not going to forgive and forget about this right away."

**~*~V~*~**

I can't sleep. Shit.

It's 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm still wide awake. I have nothing to do tomorrow, but I still want to go to sleep. There's a lot on my mind, but that hasn't stopped me from sleeping before. I think I'm too used to sleeping in a room less than half this size and with someone else. I wonder how JoJo is doing. Hope there's not a thunderstorm. He hates thunderstorms.

Turning on my side, I could see across my room. Duracell is in her cage, sleeping away, nice, clean, and fluffy. Next to my bed sitting on top of a box was a laptop and an iPod. Becky bought those for me. I think I'll paint my room soon. I go to school next Monday. My paper work was transferred over to Duval. I'm in the second half of my eleventh grade year. I just want to get in, and get out. No personal relationships with any of my old classmates. Keep it cut and dry.

Do I want to go to college? I'm not sure. College isn't right for everyone. I have some time to think about it.

Did the door just creak? I sat up in my bed to check if it was the door that made that sound, and was met with Zack stepping into my room wearing an oversized t-shirt as pajamas.

"Zack, what are you doing up this late?" I asked him. "You should be asleep."

"…Had a nightmare," He said rubbing his eyes. "I'm scared. Can I sleep with you? I don't wanna wake momma and daddy."

"C'mon," I picked him and a laid him down next to me in my bed. He snuggled under the blankets. "What was your nighmare about?"

"You went away again and you didn't come back," He said, drifting off to sleep.

"I promise, I won't leave again, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really. Now it's time to go to sleep, Zack."

"'Kay. I love you, TJ."

"…I love you too, Zack."

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><p><strong>Just a heads up, we're going in a new direction next chapter. As in, it won't be in TJ's point of view. It'll be someone else's. For the majority of the chapter, anyways. It'll be a fun time. :)<strong>

**Please Review!**


	50. Welcome Back

**Did the last chapter melt everyone's heart? Good. That's what I was aiming for. There will be more of it to come, but not right now, or for the next four chapters, including this one. **

**This and the next four chapters will mention a character yet to be introduced in the story. Don't worry too much about it right now; it'll all clear up soon enough.**

**Read On!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I think I found my religion. Unitarian Universalism. Seems legit. _

_Surprisingly, I'm right where I should be in all my classes. I'm not a year behind like I thought I would be. Back in juvie, most inmates where behind by at least one year, and I thought would be too. Now that I know that I'm not, I know I'll graduate on time._

_I wore JoJo's shades to school. It's more for cosmetic reasons than anything. I went to the doctor for my eye and I got an antibiotic and some eye drops for it, but it's still unsightly. It's turning yellow, but the doctor said that was from the infection and it would go back to normal when the medicine starts to work. I wore the shades to keep it out of view. Had to convince all my teachers to let me wear them, and it wasn't too hard. And I have chlamydia. But besides that I'm fine._

_Everyone here makes such a big deal over nothing. I'm back, who the fuck cares? Go on with your life._

**~*~V~*~**

"Let's see, I have the Matheltes after school today, the Debate team tomorrow, Chess Club on Wednesday, and tutoring on Thursday and Friday. With this schedule, I barely have time to hang out with you guys after school, what with homework and all. Do you think I should drop something?"

"We've been telling you to drop one of those things for a year now, Gretch. You're going to burn yourself out."

Walking down the halls of Third Street High School, Gretchen Grundler looked through her weekly schedule. Finding enough time between school, clubs, and friends to simply _breathe_ was becoming an increasingly difficult thing to do. It had been building up for the last few years with her only defense in picking up so many things was that 'it would look amazing on a college application.' Having reached her breaking point (being her grades suffering because of so many activities), Gretchen was finally deciding on which to cut to free up more of her time. But the decision was hard.

She had been in the Matheltes since entering high school; the Mathletes team in middle school was a joke. Since joining the team, she had won multiple city wide competitions, as well as a few national ones. Having originally planned to join the Biology club, she expected the Mathletes to be nothing but a set of nerds arguing over who was the nerdiest, that doubled as social suicide. However, she found it to be much better than her expectations.

So she wasn't going to cut that out.

Then there was the Debate team. Out of everything, that seemed to be the one she wanted to cut the most. She had a real talent for it, and that was a good reason to not quit. But it was a talent that she didn't care for much, and wouldn't bother her if she didn't have it all. It slowly because something fun and new to do in middle school, to a chore in the ninth grade, and finally settling on being a thought of '_OH GOD I HAVE TO GO TO DEBATE __**AGAIN**_**' **now.

And Chess Club. Out of all the things she was signed up for, the Chess club was the most fun. It was a regular battle of the minds. Losing sent her into a rage because _how could she lose to __**anyone **__in __**any**__ intellectual game_, while winning made her so happy because _ha! I won!_ It would be counterintuitive to cut something that she had fun with.

Tutoring maybe? No. Just no. She wanted to help her fellow classmates, often her own friends, be as academically successful as she was.

"Perhaps I should quit the Debate team," Said Gretchen as she walked down the hallway along with Spinelli. The two were headed where the whole gang (minus the obvious one) always met before classes started. "I'm not enjoying it, and it takes the most time compared to everything else. What do you think?"

"I think you should quit something. You're starting to stress out because of all those clubs," Spinelli told her. "Didn't you say you were losing hair from all the stress?"

"Yes, I did. Well that settles it. Today after school, I'm finding Mr. Booth and telling him that I can't be on the team anymore. Or maybe I could catch him before class starts…," She stopped walking long enough to look at her watch. "It doesn't look like it. Shouldn't have overslept. Spinelli, call you tell the guys I can't stop to talk today? There's two minutes left before first period starts and my class is on the other side of the building."

"No problem. Just don't fall and break your leg like last time," Spinelli warded her.

"Thanks," She said before turning left and running instead of right to meet the others. Running as fast as she could, she started to mentally count down how much time she had left to get to class until the bell rang. She estimated at her current speed she would get there in time with a few seconds to spare. However, she didn't plan on running into someone after turning a sharp corner. She fell backwards and landed on the floor, textbook spilling out of her backpack. After coming to a screeching halt, she looked up to see who it was that had possibly made her late for class. The person she ran into didn't fall like she did; he was still standing. The blonde male (a very _handsome _one at thas) turned to face her, and after he stared at her for a few seconds (the creepiness of it all increase by the fact that she couldn't see his eyes due to the shades) before offering her his hand to help her up.

"Sorry about that," Said Gretchen, taking his hand. "I was in a running to get to first period."

"It's fine," He said, helping her get her books. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay. Sorry I can't stay and talk. I'm going to be late," She said, choosing to carry the last of her books. "I'll see you later." She ran down the hall, hoping to make up for lost time. As the bell started to ring, she reached the class in time to enter before the bell stopped. "Yes! Made it…." Taking her regular seat at the front of the class, Gretchen caught her breath. Her perfect attendance record was intact. Now that she was calmed down from her sprint, she replayed it over again in her head. What stood out the most was running into the other student. He didn't look familiar, and having gone to school with 95 percent of the student body since elementary school, she knew that for sure. Was he new? That was a possibility. It's not unheard of that students transfer schools this late in the year.

"Mornin' class, I've got good news and bad news," The teacher said, coming into the room. Snapping out of her thoughts, Gretchen began to search through her backpack for the homework that was due today. "The bad news is, I gave you all the wrong homework assignment last Friday.

'Are you kidding me?' She thought.

"The good news is I did plan on giving you all that homework this week. The homework I was supposed to give you was only ten problems. So for all of you who did that homework over the weekend, you have it easy," Said the teacher. "Now, it looks like we have a new student, and since I an inept of learning any of your names, he might already be in here." Everyone in the class looked around for someone new, but found no one.

"Let's see here," The teacher said looking at the list of students in the class. "Is Theodore J. Detweiler here?"

The sound of wind whipping past everyone's head as they looked up after hearing that name was the loudest thing in in the classroom. They were all praying that they had all heard wrong, but were afraid that they hadn't. The creak of the door as it opened echoed against the old walls and demanded everyone's attention. It kept everyone's attention as someone stepped to. They weren't sure to calm down or tense up when a blonde stepped through the door. Gretchen recognized him right away. She bumped into him on her way there. That guy was nice, it couldn't be him…

"Detweiler?" The teacher asked. The blonde gave him a half wave as a response. "Nice of you to show up. Five minutes late. Before you sit down, you have to know that wearing sunglasses is not permitted in my class." Gretchen watched, mouth agape along with the rest of the class, as he walked over to the teacher and said a few words, lifted his shades, and put them back down. "Alright, then. There's a free seat over there. Take your seat."

As their new classmate sat down in his seat, everyone couldn't help but stare at his every move. They all were thinking the same thing.

'What the fuck is _he_ doing here?'

Gretchen joined the rest of the class in pulling out their cellphone out of her pocket and texting everyone they knew about what they just found out. Her outfit was Third Street was long gone and was replaced with a pair of black jeans, a neon blue shirt with the 'blue screen of death' message copied on it, blue converse, hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and a more stylish par of glasses. She wasn't one for any sort of disobedience in class, but this was an exception. She quickly sent a text, in text speak to save space (something else she never did), to Spinelli, Vince, Mikey, and Gus. She chose not to text Ralph; he was out sick and didn't know about TJ's existence. Five seconds after sending out the message, she received responses.

**Spinelli: Please tell me you're kidding.**

**Vince: Is this some sort of sick joke? Its not funny, Gretch**

**Gus: You're lying.**

**Mikey: He's not supposed to be out this early! Maybe you heard wrong**

'I wish I heard wrong,' She thought. She glanced up at the teacher to make sure she wasn't being watched and answered back.

_**I wish I was wrong. Being as smart as I am, I want to be wrong. I do. But he's here! He's sitting in this class right now! You all should get a ton of texts from others in this class just watch.**_

Ten seconds later she got a response.

**Mikey: I just got twenty messages saying he's here.**

**Spinelli: FML**

**Vince: What the hell is going on…?**

**Gus: My dad has a bomb shelter in our backyard. Who's coming with me?**

_**If it makes anyone feel better, he's not doing anything right now.**_

**Vince: Well yeah, he's not going to do anything RIGHT NOW. **

**Mikey: This doesn't help me at all.**

**Gus: Srsly guys, there is a bomb shelter in my backyard, who is coming with me?**

**Spinelli: Who's the genius that let him out?**

_**I don't get it. He doesn't look like himself. Not how I remember him. he's blonde.**_

**Gus: I don't think that makes him any less dangerous, Gretchen.**

**Vince: But it's still TJ.**

**Mikey: Hair color doesn't change a person**

**Spinelli:….Blonde?**

The ringing bell signaling the end of the class jolted Gretchen out of her fast texting. Her neck hurt from looking down at her phone while keeping it out of view. Students were rushing out of the classroom, but she wasn't one of them, and neither was TJ, as well as a few others. She kept an eye on his as he exited the room, but he didn't appear to notice her at all. Did he not recognize her? She hoped so. Bumping into him was bad enough. As soon as she stepped outside of the class she was pulled aside by none other than her friends.

"This is a joke right? Tell us this is a joke, Gretchen!" Gus all but yelled at her. "Tel us right now!"

"Gus, calm down. You're becoming hysterical," Gretchen told him. "And no, this isn't a joke. I wouldn't joke about something like this. He's in my class."

"Why is he here in the first place?" Vince asked, leaning against the lockers. "Who let him out? Did he break out like before?"

"I want to know the answer to that too, but I think we should wait until we have more time to talk, like lunch."

"Okay, we'll talk about this at lunch. If we all don't die in a fire first," Spinelli said. "I want to know why he's here! I has planning on moving out of this town before he turned 21, but shit just keeps happening….guy's like a bug you can't get rid of…." Her sentence died down when she witnessed someone coming out of the classroom. The others turned to see what caused her to stop talking and saw, in disbelief, TJ stepping out of the classroom. The blonde hair that Gretchen had pointed out in class stood out, as well as the shades. They stood frozen and he turned his head to look at them, though he stayed silent. A few tense seconds passed before he walked past them and towards his next class.

"Four years and he still sends chills up my spine," Gus said. "I hope we all make it to lunch."

"Me too, but let's just focus on getting to our next class okay?" Gretchen said. "Then at lunch we can come with something to do about this. Hopefully."

* * *

><p><strong>I smell trouble brewing. <strong>

**Hiddenbehindthecurtains: Oh he's mad, trust me. :) It'll come out later, he's just keeping it all in.**

**Donna Nov: Yes, he is a better person, what with all the philosophy and time in his head he's had. His old friends have yet to realize this, which spells drama for the readers. As for his parents, that's a secret. :) **

**Reviews are appreciated! :D**


	51. Harsh Thoughts

**Just a heads up, I'm doing a chapter like the last one for each of the characters. Not ALL of them, that would be crazy, just the main five (minus TJ of course). I'm using it as a way to sort of 'catch up' with them without writing TOO much. These chapters will also take place on the same day, so some things will be repeated; mostly conversations, but it won't be much. It'll all make sense. **

**Read On!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Okay, I never do this, but I'm making a second entry on the same day._ _People here are crazy. They call me crazy, They need to look at themselves. I'm sort of waiting for them to do something. Just sitting here, waiting. _

_Come on, guys. One of you has to have the balls to say two words to me. I don't bite. _

_Really I don't._

_At least I won't bite the most of you. I want to see who they send over first. That'll be amusing to see._

**~*~V~*~**

"Sorry I'm late, Coach!"

"Hold it right there, LaSalle! I got a phone call.."

"From who?"

Coming to a screeching halt, Vince forced himself to walk over to the basketball coach. The walk was made even more painful by the fact that he was eager to get back to training. A fractured ankle put him on the sidelines for an entire month, and after having the cast taken off, he wanted to make up for lost time. The doctor had told him his ankle was healed and that he could get back to training, but to take it easy for a week or two. The last part went in one ear and out the other, because as soon as Vince heard he could get back to training, that's all his mind was focused on.

"You're parents. They said your doctor said to take it easy," said the coach.

"He said to take it easy, not that I can't practice at all," Vince protested. "I can still go out there."

"Not on my watch. YOU may be willing to risk hurting your ankle again, but I'm not. Come back in a week," the coach said. "Then you can start practicing again."

"C'mon coach, this is ridiculous! At least let me do SOMETHING," he begged. "I need to keep up with the rest of the team somehow."

"Alright, fine," The coach said, giving in. "Jog. Around the court. But that's it. And you're not coming to practice after school." After thanking the coach, Vince bean to sprint around the basketball court. "I said _jog, _LaSalle! Jog!"

"Got it, coach!" He yelled back. Slowing down, Vince couldn't understand what the fuss was all about. It wasn't as if it was the first time he broke a bone, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

When he was in the ninth grade and on the soccer team, he broke his right leg and sprained his left ankle. It had been so severe that the bone was sticking out of his skin, and the pain was unfathomable. By the time he was healed from that injury, the school year was over. Instead of staying on the team the next year, he joined the football team and suffered a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder at the same time, taking him out for the rest of the season. when he returned to play on the team the next year, he broke his _other_ arm.

At that point he felt he was getting screwed over.

His parents wanted him to stop playing sports all together.

His doctor wanted him to cut back at the very least.

But he was stubborn, and kept pushing on.

With so many severe injuries in his past, the pain from a fractured ankle seemed like nothing to Vince. All he wanted to do was get back out there as soon as possible. He wasn't going to keep something as small as multiple broken bones keep him out of the action. That just wasn't going to happen. It was amazing that he hasn't suffered a concussion in all of it; his doctors were baffled at that.

Although playing sports was a big part of his life, it wasn't the _only_ part. Even he thought his life would be boring if that was the case. While his leg was broken and ankle sprained Vince was stuck in a wheelchair. The part of him that demanded some form of competition was being neglected and he was started to crazy from it. It was then that he took up chess to cope. It was introduced to him by Gretchen while everyone was trying to keep him from going mad from boredom. He wasn't as skilled as Gretchen but he still enjoyed the game. The occasional game between him and one of the so-called 'geeks' of the school turned into 3-out-of-5, then 5-out-of-eight, and so on.

Then his baby sister took up a considerable chunk of his time.

He didn't know how to feel when his parents announced they were having another child. He was busy with sports ad hanging out with his friends. The worst he was worried about was getting sleep when she was born. All babies were crying machines in his eyes. But after his baby sister, named Valarie, got out of that annoying baby stage and into the rough and tumble toddler stage, she became tolerable, even enjoyable when she began to imitate him when she showed an interest in sports, like him, though it looked like that was beginning to change.

The coach's whistle that signaled the end of practice brought him to a stop. While the other players gathered around, he skipped it (due to a glare by the coach that read 'don't even think about it, LaSalle') and headed back inside to change to is normal clothes; worn in jeans (it would be shorts if it wasn't freezing outside), his #1 basketball jersey with a white t-shirt underneath, and a pair of black basketball shoes.

As soon as he stepped out of the locker room, the first period bell rang overhead.

'It's not the first time I've been late to class,' He thought as he ran down the hall to his first class, English. He passed the few students who remained in the halls out of pure laziness and carelessness. Reaching the classroom, he walked inside and saw that the teacher has not arrived yet. It wasn't anything out of the usual; the teacher was _always_ five minutes late.

To pass the time, Vince chose to mess around on his phone. He made a mental note to put it on silent after it ran in the middle of class and the teacher took it away. He didn't get that chance, however, because he saw that he had 13 new text messages, and was getting more as seconds passed.

"People are blowing up my phone," He mumbled. Going through the list, he found a message from Gretchen and opened it first.

**Gretchen: TJ's here**

Simply _reading_ the name of his former friend sent a chill up his spine. He had to read the message five more times to be sure he didn't misread it. Even still, he didn't believe it

_**Is this some sort of sick joke? Its not funny, Gretch**_

Sending the reply, he hoped he would get another messages saying it WAS all a joke. As he waited he looked around the room. The teacher had yet to arrive, but everyone in the classroom was either staring at their phone in shock, texting rapidly, or whispering to the person next to him. His phone beeped, letting him know he has a new message.

**Gretchen: I wish I was wrong. Being as smart as I am, I want to be wrong. Be he's here! He's sitting in this class right now! You all should get a ton of text from others in this class just watch.**

'Oh right, the other messages,' He thought. He continued to hope that Gretchen was wrong as he read through the now 30 text messages.

**Detweiler is out of juvie. 'bout to skip school and transfer.**

**Who's the genius who decided it was okay to let a psychopath like Detweiler out? He's gonna kill us all!**

**We're all about to go up in flames, 'cause Detweiler's back.**

**God please help us all. Someone let the antichrist out of his cage. You all know who I'm talking about. Detweiler.**

_**What the hell is going on….?**_

The growing whispers around the room became silent as the teach finally entered and began the lesson. Following the rest of the class, Vince continued to text back and forth until the class ended. He wasn't going to get much information from texting, but he was going to get as much as he could. This was serious. He thought it was serious, and by the looks of it, everyone else did too.

**~*~Vince's POV~*~**

Okay, so this is really happening. Everyone isn't just bullshitting me. I would've actually preferred that. I would've preferred that this be a school-wide prank aimed at making me shit bricks than it being the real thing.

I'm not going to panic. Nope. Not going to panic. Gotta stay strong. The school best athlete doesn't coward in the face of fear. I guess in this case it would be in the face of a deranged psychopath.

He does look crazy though. 'specially with the hair. The blonde screams psycho on him.

I think we should try to avoid him. If we do that then he can't have any reason to hurt us, right? Right. Plus, what are the chances that we have a class with him? Yeah, Gretchen has Trigonometry with him, but that's _one_ class. There's five of us, and one of him (thank God). We're not going to get stuck an any more of the same classes together, I know it.

Oh shit.

There he is. In my second period class, biology. I hate biology enough without _him_ here. Oh, and if that's not bad enough, he's sitting next to the ONLY seat left.

I'm not even mad. I'm not. If I was everyone else in the class, I'd avoid that seat too. It just sucks that I'm stuck with it.

Like I said, I'm not gonna be scared of him. He's not even looking at me. Or is he? I can't tell with those dumb shades. Right after I sit down in the most dangerous seat in the school, I look over at him without looking like I'm looking at him. It's more of a sideways glance. Nothing. He doesn't look like he knows I'm next to him. I know he recognizes me and the rest of us. He saw us when we visited Spinelli when she was in juvie with him.

Remember to bring that up. Out of all of us, Spin should know the most since she was in juve with him for a month.

Though the teacher began to lecture and write on the board, I kept an eye on him while writing down notes. The guy is like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off at the worst moment.

But he's not doing anything. He's writing notes like the rest of us.

Are we all worried over nothing?

….

….no. We have a _reason_ to worry. Whatever. I just don't want to die in a fire.

I bet he still denies setting the elementary school on fire. I understand that no one would come out and say they did it right after it happened, but at some point it gets old and you have to admit it. Nobody died from it, but plenty of kids were burned, Spinelli being one of them.

Guys a fucking psychopath. I don't care what anyone says. Anyone who hangs a child over the edge of a building, a _two-story building,_ is out of their mind. If we're lucky, he'll do something and get thrown in prison again by the end of the week.

Sounds mean, but that's my opinion. He shouldn't be around people. At all.

God this class is boring. Time always goes so slow in here. It doesn't help that the teach talks in monotone. By now, most of the class would be asleep, but with this psychopathic nutcase here next to me, everyone's wide awake.

I have a C in this class, but barely. I need to have a C or else I can't play on the basketball team. That's the only thing keeping me from getting an F in here. I'm not a big fan of science.

….

….

After ten minutes of keeping an eye on him, I didn't find out anything and turned my attention back to what was written on the board. That didn't last longer than five minutes 'cause he pulled out a notebook and started writing in it.

He's planning something already. That didn't take too long.

Old habits are hard to break, huh Detweiler?

Are you gonna kill us one by one or all at once to save time? Can you try to make it quick and painless? I don't want to suffer for too long before dying.

I'm not scared of him, I'm not. I'm scared of what he can do and what he's capable of.

I need a drink.

My phone vibrated, and it showed I had a message from Ashley Q. Me and her have been date for the last year. You don't find many girls who can kick my ass in a sport then go to the dance right after.

**Ashley Q.: Vince, u better get ur friend under control n fast before I break up with u**

_**He's not my friend, Ashley. He stopped being my friend in fifth grade.**_

**Ashley Q.: Doesn't matter. Handle him before we all die.**

_**I think that's everyone's plan, Ashley. Give us some time, will ya? He just got here. It's not like we can come up with something right away **_

**Ashley Q.: Well you better hurry up or I'M transferring schools!**

_**Relax. He doesn't even look dangerous**_

**Ashley Q.: The chubby little kid he used to be didn't look dangerous either**

_**Calm down. We'll figure this all out, ok?**_

**Ashley Q.: Fine.**

Damn. Everyone's expecting us to take care of this just because we used to be friends with him. We're already stuck with the problem and we didn't even start to deal with it. With all this, will I have time to practice?

Hmm….my ankle still hurts a little. Maybe I should take it easy like everyone says. I don't want to get hurt again. Not right away anyways. But I don't want to miss out on the season either. If I do go back out there and get hurt again, no one will let my play for the rest of the year. I either play now and risk getting hurt again, or stay put and wait until I get the all clear from my doctor.

Tough choice. No, it really is. I know most people would say to wait and heal, then play for the rest of the season, but I'm not that patient. I don't think I have much of a choice with all this going on.

Okay. I'll wait. But I won't like it.

I should probably tell the guys I have a class with him too. Someone should know if I come to this class but disappear right after for no apparent reason.

_**Guess what, Gretchen's not the only one who has a class with him. I do too. **_

Five seconds later I got a reply.

**Gus: He did this on purpose, I know it.**

**Spinelli: I'm not even mad at him. I'm mad at the dumbfuck who let him out**

**Gretchen: Avoid eye contact at all costs**

**Mikey: pray **

_**And I'm sitting next to him, too. Sucks for me, huh?**_

**Gus: I bet we ALL have a class with him just watch**

**Spinelli: Damn dude.**

**Gretchen: I feel lucky. At least I wasn't next to him.**

**Mikey: you poor soul.**

The bell rang, and I jump right out of my seat and leave the room. I'm not spending a second longer in a room with him. The others might now be here to talk, but on my way to my next class I pass Spinelli in the halls. Speaking of which, here she is.

"Wow, you're still alive," She said. "You have a class with him, too huh?"

"Yeah. Everyone ran out of the class as soon as the bell rung," I told her. "I think a few tripped."

"Oh shit, look," She said point behind me. I turned and saw TJ coming towards us. Fuck.

He stopped in front of us and braced for whatever he was going to do. He's not doing anything. Except….handing me my notebook…? Oh. Must've left it behind when I ran.

"Um….thanks," I said taking it. He didn't say anything. He just left. Weird. "This day isn't going fast enough."

"It's not going fast enough for any of us," Spinelli said. "I know ten people who left school because of him."

"I don't blame them."

"I gotta get to class, Vince. I'll see you at lunch."

"Right, lunch…."

Lunch is three more periods away. Dammit.

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><p><strong>Ah. They'll make it. For now, anyways. :) Who am I going to write next chapter? I'm thinking either Gus, or Mikey. <strong>

**Please Review!**


	52. Scared Shitless

**I lost track of how many words in this story, and when I looked I was like, 'this isn't a fanfiction, it's a goddamn book.' But seriously, we're getting close to the 200K mark. I estimate that this story will end with between 300k to 350k words. That's an estimation, I could be off. **

**Go Forth and Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I hate language classes. Never was a fan of it. I'm not in Spanish though. I hate Spanish. I was placed in German, which shouldn't be too hard since Yiddish and German are a lot alike, and I already know how to speak and write Yiddish. I wonder if I can negotiate with the teacher to let me prove I can speak Yiddish instead and have that as my grade. _

_I don't think these shades fit me. I'm wearing them so no one see's my infected eye. But if it wasn't infected I'd be wearing one of those colored contact lenses Veronica gave me. I was thinking red would look good…._

_It'd scare the shit out of everyone. I should do that when it gets better. And for the hell of it, I'll paint 666 on my forehead._

**~*~V~*~**

With the announcement of the return of the little terror known as TJ Detweiler, 95 percent of the student body was looking for a way out. The 5 percent that wasn't afraid or didn't understand what the fuss was all about didn't attend Third Street Elementary and did not know who he was. The 95 percent who did know who he was and what he was capable of doing was trying to leave the school, change schools, trying to convince their parents to move out of the state, or look for a local bomb shelter. Their defense for doing this was that when the elementary school was set ablaze, the guy was only 13 years old. He was older, and that added up to him being the equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

At least, that's how Gus viewed it.

Though he had bulked up quite a lot since elementary school due to military like training from joining the ROTC, and joining the ranks of one of the strongest guys in school, Gus was starting to feel like the weakest. Everyone else was panicking about the situation, but Gus was trying to stop himself from hyperventilating and going into a state of shock. He couldn't leave the school; his father could read him like a book and would order him to go back to school, then to come home afterwards to face punishment in the form of military level drills (and he hated those).

'Just calm down, Gus. This isn't as bad as it seems,' he thought as he tried to calm his nerves. It wasn't working. 'What am saying? Of course it is…at this rate, we all have one class with him, if we're lucky….'

In his panicking, Gus didn't watch where he was going and bumped into someone. Remembering the streak of bad luck two of his friends had so far in the day, he jumped bad, afraid he had run into the wrong person. But he hadn't. This person was short. And female.

"Oh, sorry about that, Theresa. I wasn't watching where I was going," He said to the former Cornchip girl.

"It's okay Gus. You must have a lot on your mind, today especially," She said, smiling, but with concern on her face.

**~*~Gus's POV~*~**

With a smile like that, I'm a little less worried. She has a way of doing that to me. Me and Theresa have been dating since last year, and it's been great. We should've seen it coming since the incident with our dad's when we were younger. Luckily for the both of us, that rivalry had cooled down since then. She's wearing her ROTC uniform today.

"Yeah, we're all worried, but I think I'm panicking more than anyone," He said, doing his best to hiding his fear. "Keep a look out for a blonde guy with shades. That's him."

"A blonde guy with shades?" She asked me. "I think I saw him. Does he have on a white hoodie?"

"Yeah, that's him! Did he do anything to you?"

"No, he didn't do anything," She said. "Well, he did, sort of….I went to my locker and when I left to go to my last class I must've dropped some money 'cause he came after me and gave it back. Are you sure that's him? He seems really nice."

"They all seem nice before they go crazy," I said. "I gotta get to class. Be careful if you see him again, okay?"

"If you say so, Gus." Before I left, I gave her a kiss on the forehead. Have to get to my next class before the bell rings. My German teacher is strict as hell. I was going to take Spanish, but it left a bad taste in my mouth in middle school. I think it's easier than Spanish.

Fuck. My. Life.

Right as I turned into the class, he's standing there talking to the teacher.

What did I do to deserve this?

I tried get to my seat without being noticed by him. It's working! I'm gonna make it!

"Griswold!" FUCK. I turned and faced my teacher who called my name. I knew not to question her authority from past experiences (she gave me detention for giving the wrong answer to a question) and walked over to her.

"Yes Ms. Nesbit?" I asked, making sure to not make contact with TJ.

"This is our new student," She said, gesturing over to TJ. "He needs to catch up with the rest of the class. Since you have the highest grades in here, I'm assigning the task to you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because I said so," She said. "Now, sit down so I can begin todays lesson."

"Yes, Ms. Nesbit…"

With my head hanging low, I sat down in one of the two seats left in the front row. The other empty seat was right next to me, so TJ sat there.

God, why?

I've been a good citizen.

Never broke a law. I try to do the right thing. I'm hoping to serve my country when I graduate, lead a good life, have a few kids, retire, and die knowing I did everything I wanted to….. why is this happening?

Okay, just calm down, Gus. Calm down. You don't' want to look scared in front of him. He can _smell_ fear. He _**thrives**_ on it. You don't want him to know you're afraid of him. That's the last thing I want to do.

I'm calm, I'm calm. Okay good. That's great.

Hmm. I can see why Theresa would think he's not dangerous. He doesn't have on that psychotic grin or that look in his eye. Then again, he has on shades. None of us can see his eyes. Why would he where shades inside, anyways? I know he's been in juvie for four years, but he must know he looks like a complete douchebag. Not that I have the balls to say that to his face.

I have to _tutor_ this guy. Why me? Why couldn't it be someone else? I need back up on this. There's no way I'm spending more and five seconds alone with him. I know the others will watch out for me. Speaking of which, I should tell the others.

_**God doesn't like me. TJ's in my German class and I have to tutor him**_

**Vince: I don't think God likes any of us anymore**

**Spinelli: What are you afraid of? You can run to your bomb shelter**

**Gretchen: That makes three of us.**

**Mikey: We're all here for you Gus.**

Whatever solution we come up with had better be good. We need to handle this before someone gets hurt. I don't think we can actually _physically_ fight him. Francis went to Duval and said he's built like a five foot eleven inch pile of gold bricks. Can we out smart him? He was clever as hell back in elementary, then he was in juvie.

We don't stand a snowballs chance in hell. Or a burning building.

But I can't get over the fact that he _looks_ harmless for the most part. Compared to what we're thinking about him, he doesn't _look_ like he can do what we think. He looks strong, that goes without saying. But still….

He sends a wave a fear through me.

They never trained me for this in ROTC.

I don't want to think about this. If I keep thinking about it, I'm going to panic and run out of this school. I can't panic, Theresa's still here. I'm not leaving her alone here with him in the same building. Not a chance. I don't care if it's a losing fight, I'll protect her no matter what.

I'm not gonna lie, she'll probably end up protecting _me_ because as soon as I saw him I turned into a pansy-assed bitch. And Theresa's strong. Not as strong as Spinelli or Vince or me, but strong. I'll try. I'm not going to give up easily.

What the hell am Isaying? If she's not there for me to defend, I'm running for the hills and no one is stopping me.

I hope we're blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Please just let him be as harmless as a bunny rabbit, like he used to be. Please? I'd do anything for that.

What's he writing? He pulled out this black notebook covered in duct tape, colored duct tape. It's his personal book of mayhem, I bet. He has plans of hurting us in a fire or poisoning the school lunch, something like that.

Remember not to eat lunch today, and warn the others.

….

Do you have to pay to get your GED? A GED is as good as a high school diploma. I don't have to be in an actual high school if I don't want to….what's the next closest high school?

Damn, it's all the way across town, and Dad won't let me transfer this late in the school year. I can't abandon the others….

They should transfer too.

Does the principal know about him and what he did? If I were him, I would be looking for a new job, fast. We should all go talk to him later. For what I don't know, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing.

Like me.

And him.

I want to believe that since TJ isn't doing anything at this current point in time that he isn't going to do anything in the future. I _want_ to. He used to show signs before he did things. But he could've perfected his technique since then.

I feel bad for the other inmates that had to deal with them. The horror they must've been through.

Hey, maybe they let him out because even they couldn't handle him. Heh-heh.

This isn't a laughing matter.

Why couldn't Tsar Bomba drop on us? I would've preferred that. The pain wouldn't last long before we all died. This guy will _drag out _our pain.

I give up. We haven't started to fight against him, but I quit.

It's a losing battle.

In my humble opinion.

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><p><strong>Short chapter. It's all I can come up with for him. Hope you all liked it. <strong>

**Please Review!**


	53. Possibly Innocent

**Sorry about the shortness of the last chapter. It's all I could come up with. However, I do hope to make up for that in this chapter and the next. More so in the next chapter.**

**I'm making references to another cartoon in this chapter. I'm sure you all will see it very quickly.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"I think that….Poe meant for the house to be connected to both the mental and physical state of Roderick Usher, maybe his sister too. The house couldn't have always been in as bad as it is in the story, and it collapses once Roderick dies after his sister. Even he thinks the house is alive. It says the windows are like eyes and at the end, it's like the house screams out in pain before it collapses. But…he could not be sick at all. Sometimes it's like since he expects to be sick, he<em> acts<em> sick, and I'm not sure if his sister is dead when Roderick puts her in the tomb. She has rosy cheeks….I don't think dead people have rosy cheeks, but I'm sure that when the house fell it killed her, if she wasn't already dead. But that's just my opinion. I didn't particularly like that story by Poe. Only read it once. It was kind of repetitive compared to his other works."

With three of his friends having TJ in one of their classes (so far) Mikey thought the idea of him popping up in one of his classes was becoming more and more likely. As the day passed and he moved from one class to the next, he looked into the classroom, eye darting through the room for any sign of him. Until fourth period English. He didn't see him in the classroom. Rather, right as he arrived at the door, TJ did too.

Somehow, everyone else being afraid of him, Mikey didn't feel as afraid as they were. He was concerned with what TJ was capable of, yes. That goes without saying. But he wasn't afraid of his _presence_. His presence alone wasn't something worth causing a fuss over. Mikey thought everyone was blowing that part of him being here out of proportion.

Or that could be the part of him that was always willing to forgive and forget. He couldn't make out which.

"Nice observation, Detweiler," Their English teacher, Ms. Pataki said. "Most students don't make that connection." As she went back to teaching the class, Mikey couldn't help but over at him. He was fortunate enough to not have to sit next to him; he was two seats over to the left. He didn't expect TJ to be one for reading much of anything (besides the Barnaby Boy's books, or something similar). Then again, he spent some time behind bars, and people behind bars need some form of entertainment besides staring at the walls.

Along with possibly being the least afraid of him, Mikey was the most interested in what kind of person he was now. Everything he knew about juvenile detention came from the media, but the media was not always right, so he expected to be mostly wrong.

What he was sure of was TJ spending the bulk of his time locked away in his head. Juvie was a miniature jail, and jail was strict, so it would make sense for him to spend an enormous time thinking, possibly philosophizing. It would fit him, or how he used to be before he went crazy and lashed out on everyone he could reach.

**~*~Mikey's POV~*~**

Why did he start doing that anyways? There are a bunch of other questions that need to be answered, but everyone wants to know the answer to that. He used to use his talents in causing mayhem for good, then all of a sudden, it changed. First he aimed at those who didn't deserve it, then it was us, his best friends. Why would he do that? It didn't come on gradually, it literally happened _overnight_. Did he hit his head? Something must've happened to make him like this.

Hmm….I personally think I'm a good judge of character, and from what I see, he looks harmless. Intimidating, but harmless as a whole. I don't think he's as big as a threat as we're making him out to be, and I don't think he's going to try to hurt us. Just think about it. Why would he now? He used to, but he just got out of juvie. If we were him, we wouldn't do anything that would get us in trouble and send us back there, and I imagine he wouldn't either. But we don't want to trigger him.

I need to cut back on the CSI. It's starting to affect me.

It doesn't look like I'm going to rehearsal after school. Or the rest of the week. I'll wait until class is over to tell the others. Nothing gets past Ms. Pataki and I don't want my phone taken away.

I'm lying, sort of. He does scare me a little bit. You would be scared to if one of your friends, one of the nicest kids on the playground, turn into a monster. That's the only word we had to describe him back then. An uncontrollable monster.

Are we scared of him as a _person_, or just what he can do? I'm not sure. I can see how we would be afraid of him in both ways. The part of him we used to know went away a long time ago and turned into _this_. And _this_ person is smart enough to get inside our heads, know what we're afraid of, and use it against us to humor himself.

Okay, he sounds like a psychopath.

Let's see….what can I tell from him right now? He likes to read. He said he read more than one story by Edgar Allen Poe. That's something. Poe's works are disturbing to say the least. What does that say about him? He has a dark set of mind, maybe? It's not out of the question.

I wonder if we all can be friends again. I miss those days where this situation was completely out of the question. It'll take some work, but I hope it can happen one day. They all say that I forgive too easily. I say it takes too much effort to not forgive someone and stay angry at them.

So yeah, I forgive him for everything he did, as terrible as it was. You can't stay mad at a person forever. It's exhausting. It try to explain it to the others, but they didn't understand it.

I hope he spent the last few years in his mind philosophizing. He was already sort of a mini-philosopher in elementary school. People who've been in any form of prison spend way too much time alone with their thoughts to NOT have their own philosophies about their life. I would rather than be the case than him plotting revenge against us all. If he's been philosophizing, then we're all safe.

If not, we're all going to see hell.

So far, I don't know what to think about him. We haven't talked to him yet, so we know nothing about him right now. If we all have the same lunch with him, then I think we should go over and talk to him. The worst he could do is ignore us. We're not going to find anything out by not doing anything.

Everyone's going to look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.

I don't blame them.

But we won't know that until later.

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><p><strong>I don't like how short this chapter is, but it's all I have. I'll make up for it, promise.<strong>


	54. Mostly Harmless

**So Toonami is coming back, which brightened my day.**

**Seems like cartoons channels are finally gaining some sense and showing their old programs. About time. Let's get Disney to join the bandwagon and maybe TV will become descent again.**

**Read On!**

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><p>Crushing the red Crayola crayon in her hand, Spinelli sat in her seat, and held back the urge she had to march over to the table where TJ was sitting. She wasn't surprised when she came into her Art class and saw him sitting at the round table in the corner of the class. Following the rest of the class, she sat anywhere BUT that table, but that didn't keep her front watching her. She blamed it on having spent some time in juvie with him.<p>

She was working on a picture she had started on the previous Friday. It was a simple drawing of a tube of red paint being squeezed out, but the shading was giving her more trouble than she had expected. Having drawn pictures much more complicated than this one, she didn't think it would take longer than one class to finish it, but that was proving to be wrong.

By the looks of it, Spinelli didn't expect it to be finished for a while, having just crushed the crayon in her hands.

"Psst, Spinelli, are you okay?" Asked Clarissa, the former Swinger Girl. The two of them sat at the same large and round table, along with Mundy. "You look like you're ready to kill someone."

"Uh-huh, I'm fine," Spinelli said, brushing the wax off her hands. "Just a little pissed."

"Oh. About Detweiler, right?" Clarissa asked, keeping her eyes on the sheet of paper she was drawing on. Keeping her aviator goggles from elementary school, she now wore a pair of baggy khakis, a green t-shirt with a fighter jet on it, and a pair of black shoes. "Tell me you guys have a plan for this. I want to join the Air Force before I die."

"We're working as fast as we can. Jesus," Spinelli said, going through the small bucket on the table searching for another red crayon. "Give us some time, okay? It's gonna take a while. Dammit, where's all the red ones?"

"We're lucky we have any at all," Mundy grumbled. "The schools art department doesn't get a damn dime. Meanwhile, the football field gets new turf, the baseball team gets new equipment, and the basketball team gets new uniforms. Last time I checked, they were all doing fine with what they had." With a neater Mohawk than the one he maintained when he was younger, he wore a black t-shirt, earns with holes ripped at the knees, and jean jacket with the sleeve ripped off. "Bullshit."

"Yeah, it sucks, but what are gonna do about it?' Spinelli asked him. "Sitting her and bitching about it isn't gonna solve anything. It's not going to solve this problem, and it's not going to solve _that_." She said, pointing across the class to TJ. "How many you have lunch after this?"

"I had lunch before this class," Mundy told her.

"I have lunch next." Said Clarissa said. "Why?"

"Me and he others are going to try and think of something at lunch," She said. "I know everyone's going to come and run over to us. It would help if they didn't. Think you can get the word out to leave us alone at lunch?"

"No problem," Clarissa said, taking out her cellphone and starting to text. "Everyone wants you guys to do something. I think that if you all need to be left alone, then everyone will do it."

"You guys have any red crayon?" Spinelli asked the people sitting at the table next to hers. They all shook their heads, no. "God! What's with all the reds missing?"

"You haven't asked _him_," Mundy said, pointing with his crayon over to where TJ was sitting. "You and Francis spent time with him in juvie. It should be easy. Or are you scared shitless like the rest of us?"

"First of all, I'm not scared of him. Let's get that straight right now," Spinelli said, glaring at Mundy. "Second of all, I think I will go over and see if he has any, just to prove my point." Getting out of her seat, Spinelli walked across the room, gaining the attention of the entire classroom. Scoffing at their stares, Spinelli did her best to ignore them during the short walk. She understood why they were 'scared shitless' as Mundy put it, but it was beginning to get old. Being in juvie with him gave her an idea of what he was like. It wasn't TOO long ago, so she hoped that much hasn't changed that would have her idea about him being wrong.

"Uh, hey," She said, reaching TJ's table. He looked up from what he was drawing to her. "Do you have any red crayons? I broke the only one we had over there."

"I saw," He said, pushing the bucket over to her. "There's one in there somewhere. Take it. I don't need it."

"Thanks," She said, going through the colors. Finding five red crayons, she left the rest on the table and turned to leave before she saw the picture he was drawing. "Is that a rabbit?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Is that the rabbit you had back in juvie?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Do you still have it?"

"Uh-huh."

"It's a nice picture."

"Right."

Knowing she wasn't going to get anything else out of him, Spinelli went back to her seat.

"How'd it go?" Mundy asked her.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" She snapped. "It was fine. I got what I went over there for."

"Says the girl who was in juvie with him."

"Yeah that helped," She admitted. "Look, I just want to finish my picture, alright? We have what, twenty minutes of class left. That's twenty minutes until lunch, and twenty minutes until anything will get done…" She paused to look back across the room where she was standing just a few minutes ago. "If it makes you feel any better, the only advice I can give you is to stay out of his way, but you and everyone else is already doing that." Ending the conversation, she looked back down at her unfinished picture and started to work on it. Considering herself weak on shading, Spinelli took the picture she was working on as 'practice.'

Ever since she drew the large chalk mural on the blacktop, Spinelli had uncovered a love of art she did not know she had. It was a less violent alternative to fighting that kept her out of the trouble, besides the one time in middle school where paint was thrown back in forth between her, the others, and the Ashley's in a fight that was waiting to happen. She was quite good at it (aside from the trouble she had with shading), and after a few years of practice she improved.

**~*~V~*~**

"Yes! We made it!" Gus declared as he and the others entered the cafeteria together. The time moved agonizingly slow, and once the bell rang, a wave a relief poured over them. They all met up before going into the lunch room for protection, both from the inevitable crowd that they expected to attack them for answers and TJ., but he was nowhere in sight.

"Yeah, we made it, Gus. I don't know about you guys, but all this anxiety is making me hungry," Vince said, walking over to the lunch line. "What's for lunch?"

"Pizza!" Mikey said, pointing at the next student to come out of the front of the lunch line. "When was the last time we had pizza for lunch? I can't remember…."

"The beginning of the school year, I suppose," Said Gretchen. "Either way, I'm in the mood for pizza, too." With everyone agreeing, they all got in line. Afterwards they sat at their usual table, and spotted TJ sitting at his own table in the corner.

"So we all have a class with him," Gus said. "All of us. Out of _all_ the other classes, he's with us. Any ideas before we get hurt?"

"How about someone go over and talk to him?" Mikey suggested between bites. "We won't know anything until someone talks to him."

"I'm not going over there," Said Gus. "Bad enough I have to tutor him. What about you, Spinelli? You said you talked to him in juvie. You have more experience that all of us."

"So? That doesn't mean anything," Spinelli told him. "I talk to him a little bit in my last class already. I did MY part."

"You talked to him already?" Gretchen asked, surprised. "What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing, really. I just went over to his table to ask for a red crayon, that's all," she said. "He was drawing a picture of a bunny he had back in juvie. All I know from being in juvie with him is that if you leave him alone he probably won't do anything, but that was _there_. I don't know if that's because he had nothing against the inmates in there, or if that's the case for all of us."

"Hey guys." They all turned to see Theresa coming over to their table. "How's everything going?"

"Bad," Gus told her.

"Why bad? This is still about TJ, isn't it?" They all nodded. "If you all are so worried, then go over and talk to him!"

"We are, eventually," Said Vince. "We're debating which one of us should be the first one to go over there."

"He doesn't look THAT threatening," She said, looking across the cafeteria. "I think you guys are worrying over nothing." Turning away from the table, Theresa walked away and towards the subject of the conversation. Gus, being her (now) overprotective boyfriend, jumped out of his seat and tried to stop her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, stopping her. "Are you crazy? You can't go over there!"

"Yes I can. Calm down, Gus. I'll be fine," she reassured him with a kiss on the cheek. "If you're that scared you can watch from over here and save me _if_ he does anything. But I doubt he will."

"Your girlfriend is bold, man," Vince told Gus.

"Too bold."

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

'I can't believe how much I miss vegetables,' TJ thought as he took another bite out of his salad. Forgoing the pizza that was being served in the lunch line, he went for the salad bar and piled a plate full of it. The so called 'vegetables' served to him in Duval didn't come anywhere close to the ones he was eating now. 'Think I might become a vegetarian just 'cause.' As he chewed his food, he as finished is trigonometry homework. He wanted to get it done so he had more time to play with Zack when school was over.

"Hi." Hearing a soft voice in front of him, he looked up. He saw a short, brown haired girl in a navy blue uniform standing in front of him. He recognized her from earlier; the girl who drop her money and he gave back to her.

"You're the girl from earlier, right?" He asked her. "The one who dropped her money."

"That's me," she said. "Do you know who I am, though?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"I'll take that as a no," She said as she sat down. "I know you remember me. You helped my dad and Gus's dad get over their feud so we could be friends. Remember that?"

"…..Cornchip Girl?" TJ said after taking a few seconds to remember. "Oh, shit. I didn't even recognize you."

"That's okay. It's been a long time since you saw me, or any of us," She sad with a smile. "But i go by my first name now; Theresa."

"Okay then, Theresa. Is there any reason you came over here? Did they send you over here to talk to me?"

"No, they didn't send me. Gus actually tried to stop me. Me and him are dating now," She said. "I came over to prove to them you're not as bad as they're making you out to be. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you are. Finally someone in this school has some sense. They're overreacting," Said TJ. "I'm just waiting for the person with the biggest balls to come talk to me. Congratulations, you have bigger balls than your boyfriend, which isn't surprising. Gus almost shit his pants when he saw I was in one of his classes."

"He's just worried. You know how Gus is sometimes. It's understandable why we all would be."

"Looks more scared than worried. If they all had half a brain they would know I'm not gonna do anything. I'm out on parole. I get in trouble three times and I get thrown back in jail."

"Makes sense. But everyone's anxiety isn't going away anytime soon. You might want to tell them that before they all start carrying fire extinguishers with them."

"I'm not going over there. I'm not the one with the problem," He said. "They can come over here if they're really concerned."

"That's what I keep telling them, but they won't listen," Theresa said. "I heard they all had one class with you so far. What's your next class?"

"Gym. Teacher's name is Mr. Heinz. Know him?"

"Yep. Gus, Spinelli, Vince, Mikey, Gretchen, and just about everyone from your Fourth grade class has gym with him. I have gym next too, and all three of the gym classes are bunched together. Today's Monday, so we're playing dodgeball."

"Dodgeball, huh? Sounds fun."

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

"Nothing's happening. Maybe she was right this whole time," Gretchen said and she and the others watched Theresa from where they were sitting. They were ready to leap out of their seats and go over there if what they expected to happen happened, but it hadn't.

"I don't think TJ's that dangerous," Mikey said, paying only half attention. "He looks harmless."

"He looked harmless four years ago, Mikey," Vince said. "Look what happened."

"I'm back," Theresa said as she came back over to them.

"How'd it go? Did he hurt you?" Gus asked her, concerned.

"I'm okay, Gus. He didn't do anything. He's harmless."

"_Harmless_?"

"Fine, _mostly _harmless. Happy?" She said. "He said that if you want to know anything about him, than _you_ guys have to talk to him. He also said I had bigger balls than you because I went over there first. If it helps, he likes food. Try taking him out for pizza or burgers or something. Oh, and we all have gym with him next period."

**"**_Gym?_ We can't have gym with him! We're playing dodgeball today!"

"I know. He says he can't wait."

"Great. We won't die in a fire. We'll just get beaten to death."

"You all are overreacting; he said that too. I bet he won't even throw a single ball."

**~*~LATER~*~**

"C'mon now everyone! Time's a'wastin'! Someone throw a ball!"

As the teacher of one of the classes yelled out for someone to make a move after five minutes of inaction, no one stepped forward to take initiative. The three gym classes that took place at the same time were put together for what the teachers assumed would be a giant game of dodgeball. However, 99 percent of the students were on one side of the basketball court, and the remaining 1 percent, TJ, stood on the other. The balls they were supposed to be throwing back and forth remained on the line separating the two 'teams.'

"Go ahead, _Griswold_, make a move," Ashley A. said from the crowd behind him and his friends.

"Me? Why me?" Gus said turning around to face her.

"You're _El Diablo. _Taking him out should be simple for you!" Mundy held at him. "Get to it. Before he takes us out first!"

"These people must be crazy," Gus whispered to the other.

"They have a point though, Gus," Gretchen told him. "Out of all of us, you would be the most likely to actually hit him, especially with your reputation as a fantastic dodgeball player."

'That doesn't mean shit,' Gus thought. "I'm not doing it. Isn't it enough for you people that I'm going into the Army?"

"What if we all throw a ball at the same time?' Vince suggested. "That way he can't tell that _you_ were the one that aimed for him."

"Better, but you all have to actually _try_ to hit him. You guys aren't gonna throw me under the bus. This should be an equal opportunity death."

"Fine, whatever! Let's go already!" Spinelli said, walking up and taking one of the balls off the line. Enough students stepped forward to grab the 12 others.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I have a hangnail.

I hate hangnails. Hurts like a bitch, too. I can't even pull it out 'cause that'll make it worse. Damn. You never have a nail clipper when you need one.

When are they going to throw a ball? I want to play dodgeball. I played it once in juvie. Lasted for _two hours. _TWO HOURS! I think I gave a couple of guys a concussion and a broken nose. Fun times.

But I'll tone it down for these guys. Just a little.

I'm not even gonna hit them. I'm not.

Well, I'll hit Gus. What kind of boyfriend doesn't stop their girlfriend from doing something that they presume to be dangerous? If he thinks I'm so _bad_, he should've stopped her, or at least come with her.

Little bitch.

How much time left in this class? It hasn't been fifteen minutes since gym started. I mom and dad texted me earlier and asked me to pick Zack up from daycare because they were going to be held up at work. I don't mind. More time I get to spend with him. I have to take him to his tumbling class afterwards. It's not like I have anything else to do. Hmm….maybe I'll take him out for burgers after. I'm getting hungry again.

Finally, it looks like they're about to throw something.

….

…..

And none of them hit me. Surprise, surprise.

**~*~End TJ's POV~*~**

"What the hell was that?" Spinelli screamed at the others who threw their balls across the gym. "None of came close to hitting him! Not even you, Gus!"

"You didn't hit him either, Spinelli," Said Vince.

"Are you crazy? I'm not gonna hit that guy."

"And you all wanted me to take the fall," Gus mumbled. "And now, he has every single ball on his side. We all knew his was going to happe—" He was cut off by a round red rubber ball hitting his face with the force of what he believed to be equal to a 16 wheeler truck. He fell back six feet before hitting the ground and sliding back five more. His glasses were thrown of his face by the sheer force and landed across the floor, bent out of shape.

Everyone saw, and was waiting for any sign of life from him.

Dazed, fifteen seconds passed before Gus attempted to get back on his feet. When he did, he stumbled over his own feet before falling to the ground again. He touched his face where he was struck and winced at the pain he felt. He spotted his glasses nearby, reached, and put them back on the best he could without them falling off. Seeing the others looking at him, he looked across the court to see the person who had threw the ball at him, then everyone else followed suit.

TJ was holding another ball, appearing to look for his next target.

"I thought you aid he was harmless!" Gus said to his girlfriend.

"_Mostly _harmless," Theresa told him. "Mostly."

"Shit is getting too real in here for me," Francis said, stepping away. "I'm forging doctors notes for the rest of the year."

"I think I have a loose tooth, now," Gus moaned. "My whole face feels broken—" He was cut off again by another ball hitting him and sliding him back another five feet. "Why does he keep hitting me?"

"I dunno, man. But if I were you, I'd start running before he gets his hands on another ball," Vince warned him. Putting his glasses back on, Gus saw TJ going to pick up another ball to throw at his face. Not taking his chances, he got back on his feet and ran to the locker rooms to hide. He didn't make it, however, because he was hit again. He was hit two more times, all of which sent him to the floor, before he made it to the locker rooms.

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><p><strong>May 26, 2012 marks the return of Toonami. Mark your calendars folks; this is a legendary moment we're experiencing.<strong>

**Sorry this chapter ends sort of abruptly. I want to get it done and out of my hands so I can work on the next one, which will come in the next few days.**


	55. Brick Wall

**I wish you can just apply for a job and know right way that you have it. It would be easier that way. Ugh, I can't get a break…**

**Anyways, my laptop had a virus, which kept me from updating this story five days ago. Lucky for me, my mom has IT at her job, so they rescued my baby. . I was stuck using my old desktop and it's painfully slow, so I didn't get on it more than once to see how slow it was. Word of wisdom, if something called Windows Pro Safety ever pops up on your screen, its fake (though it looks convincing). It almost fooled me. **

**Go forth and read on!**

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><p>Stepping outside of the high school, Spinelli, Vince, Gus, Mikey, and Gus relished in the fact that they survived the entire day. Gus did a bit more than the others, having been pummeled with dodgeball for no apparent reason. A bruise had developed on his cheek where he was continually hit during gym. They breathed a sigh of relief when TJ didn't show up for any of their last period class. Once the school day ended, the vast majority of the student body left the school as fast as their legs (or cars for those who had one or knew someone who had one) would allow. But the five didn't. Rather, they were still trying to come up with a plan, though so far they were coming up empty.<p>

"Today wasn't too bad," Mikey said as they all started to walk home. Gus held back his rebuttal. "Now what?"

"I say we finish coming up with something at one of our houses," Spinelli suggested.

"Good idea. Who's house are we going to?" Gretchen asked.

"Who's ever house it is, I'm going to be late getting there," Vince said, looking at his phone. "My parents just sent me text saying they're both being held up a work. I have to go pick my little sister up from daycare and take her to her tumbling class. It'll be at least an hour before I can meet up with you guys again."

"Then we'll come with you. It'll save us the trouble of catching up on what would've come up with."

"Are you sure about that? My sister can be hard to deal with, especially on Mondays…"

"She's not THAT bad," Spinelli told him. "She's like a little calmer me."

"Sure, yeah she's nice to _you_. She likes _you_. She hates me on Mondays, just watch."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Hmm….I see what Zack meant when he said he only played with the girls.

When school was over I had to go home and get Zack a change of clothes to tumble in. I'm not late to pick him up though. The daycare was close by. I have twenty minutes left until daycare is over with. Until then, I'm stuck waiting in the front with the parents. I'm watching him until then.

The name of this place is "Tater Tot's Daycare." I have to give these people credit. That's a clever name.

He's only playing with girls. I don't know if it's still called playing when he's sitting on the floor and the little girls are messing with his black hair. It doesn't look like it's bothering him, so I guess there's nothing wrong with it. He's laughing. He just doesn't like to play with the boys, and that's fine. So what if he doesn't like to be rough and toss each other around? He's okay, as long as he's having fun.

Still have fifteen minutes. Might as well get some reading done. Let's see…where did I leave off? I think it was chapter 3…

….

What are those guys doing here? Spinelli and the others just walked in. Which one of them has a little brother or sister? Hope Zack isn't friends with them. It's fine if he is, but it makes things less complicated.

…There close enough for me to hear their conversation.

"What's _he_ doing here? It's bad enough I have a permanent bruise from him," Gus whined. That one is his own fault. And it's not just _looks _that way.

"He's has a little brother. You know that. I babysat him a couple of times," Spinelli said. Hold on, she _knew_ I had a little brother and she didn't bother to tell me in juvie? What the hell? "He's probably here to pick him up."

"TJ! TJ!" Zack ran out of his class and over to him. Is daycare over yet? No, there's ten more minutes. "Look at what I made!" He held up a bracelet with color beads hanging off of it.

"That's nice Zack," I said, picking him up and sitting him in my lap. "Who's it for?"

"I made it for you," He said. He wrapped the bracelet around my wrist and closed it with a knot. "Do you like it?"

"I love it. Now, aren't you supposed to be with the rest of your class?" I asked him. I looked away for a second and saw that other kids were coming out of the class and meeting up with their parents.

"They let us out a 'lil early if our parents are here," He said. "Do you like my hair?" his hair is tied up in four pony tails, or two pairs of pigtails.

"Yeah. Who did it? You didn't leave the house with your hair like this this morning."

"Valarie and her friends did it," He said. He turned and pointed to a little girl who walked away from the class and over to Vince. So he has a little sister. "She's really nice. We got the same tumbling class together."

"Then you two must be good friends. Speaking of which, we've gotta get going before you're late for that class. Go get your coat, Zack." Nodding, he jumped off my lapped and went to go get his coat. Meanwhile, being as nosey as I am at this moment, I'm listening to the conversation Vince is having with his little sister.

"Where's mom and dad?" She asked him. She was wearing a pair of teal pants and a purple shirt with a picture of a light bulb on the front.

"They couldn't come today, so I'm here," Vince told her. "C'mon, go get your coat." The little girl get out a huff and marched back to get her coat. I don't think she likes him much. Don't worry, kid. It's not your fault…..

I stood out of my seat and put my book back in my bag. I only sat for ten minutes, so I didn't feel like I needed to stretch. I noticed that they were looking at me, but I didn't feed into it by looking back. Hmm…Zack said he and Vince's little sister have the same tumbling class next. If he doesn't have a car I'll have to deal with him on the walk there.

Good thing it's not far from here.

"I got my coat," Zack said, coming over to me now wrapped in his puffy orange coat. "I'm ready now!"

"Hold on," I said kneeling down to his height. I helped him pull his arms through the sleeves. I found his hat and scarf tucked away in the pockets. I know he doesn't want to wear this stuff (never wanted to either), but I'm not risking him getting sick. "There. Now you're ready. Wanna get on my shoulders?"

"Yeah!" He said holding his arms up as wide as he can with his puffy jacket. I picked him up and placed him on my shoulders, keeping my hands on his legs. Now we can go.

I could see before I stepped outside that it was beginning to snow, but not heavily. Just sprinkles. I haven't _touched_ snow in God knows how long. I hope it gets heavier later. I want to make to snowman, have a snowball fight, all that good stuff. I have a lot to make up for. I should take Zack sledding.

"What'd you do today in daycare, Zack?" I asked him.

"I played hide 'n seek, but I lost," Zack said. "I'm not a good hider. Then I played house with Valerie and her friends. I was the daddy. It's hard. Did you know it's hard being the daddy? You gotta pay bills, deal with the dog, and your wife keeps botherin' you after you worked all day. I don't want to be a daddy."

"It's a hard job, but someone has to do it," I said. "But if you don't want to be one then you don't have to."

"Good! It's too hard. I was stressed!" he mumbled, resting his head on top of mine. Kids. "Valerie!" I called behind us. "You going to tumbling class too?"

"Uh-huh. Gonna do cartwheels today!" I heard her call from behind us. Hmm…they're taking the same route as we are. "You missed a lot when you broke your wrist, Zack."

"But I caught up," Zack said. "I know how to do a cartwheel, so ha! TJ can you do a cartwheel?"

"Yep. I learned how to when I was your age, Zack," I told him. "Maybe younger."

"When we get home can I play with Dura?"

"Sure. I'll let her out of the cage so she can get some exercise."

"My brother got a bunny!" He said, turning to look behind us. "Her names Duracell."

"You don't have a bunny," the little girl said. "You're lying. I don't believe you."

"I didn't say I had a bunny! My brother does! And I'm not lying," Zack said. "TJ can you let me down?" I lifted him off of my shoulders and sat him back on the ground. He ran behind me and over to Valerie who was walking a little ahead of the others. Since me and the others are between them, I turned back around and kept walking with them following. "Her names Duracell and she's very fluffy!"

"Is that true mister? Do you have a bunny?" I'm assuming she's asking me. I stopped walking for a couple of seconds and turned around to answer her.

"That's right. I have a bunny," I answered. "Zack's telling the truth."

"I got two bunnies. They're both boys. Their names Ice Cream and Cake. They Mini Lops and like to hop. Do yours like to hop?"

"She loves to hop. But she likes sleeping more."

"My brothers smart 'cause he kept Duracell a secret," Zack said.

"My brother so stupid," She said. "I don't know why. He just so stupid. Not my other brother though. He smart like Einstein. But this one is _stupid._"

"TJ, where you going?" Zack asked me.

"To your tumbling class," I said, turning around again. The two of them had stopped in front of a building. "Let's go."

"It's right here," He said, pointing at the door. I read the address and saw that he was right. Must've been too caught up in their conversation to notice. Everyone went in and I followed them. Other little kids were already inside, running around and through the obstacles set around the area where they were supposed to be practicing. Soft padding was placed on the floor where their class was taking place. I helped Zack out of his coat and as soon as he was out of it, he ran and joined the other little kids. I sat down in one of the chairs siting against the wall. Spinelli and the others sat in the chairs across from me.

Okay. Let's go guys. One of you make a move.

I don't bite. Much.

…..

…..They're not saying anything. Okay, this is just sad.

"C'mon, guys. This is getting ridiculous," I said, getting their attention. "One of you have to talk to me."

**~*~END TJ's POV~*~**

None of them had expected TJ to be the one to start their eventual conversation. They each wanted to pass the task on to someone else other than themselves. But now, under circumstances they had no control over, they were sitting in front of him for the next hour. A minute passed and none of them had answered him, unsure of who it should be.

"O-okay…um..what are you doing here?" Vince asked. Because of his sister being friends with TJ's brother, and her actually talking to him before he did, he felt like the one who should speak up first, though he didn't want to be to one to. "Weren't you sentenced until you turn 21?"

"Yeah, but I'm out on parole," Said TJ. "They needed to make room for new inmates. Why?"

"No reason. It's just a surprise to see you…_here_," Vince said. "Especially with the reason you were in juvie in the first place."

"That was a bunch of bullshit," TJ mumbled. "Anything else you want to know?"

"You aren't planning to do anything, are you?" Gus asked, nervous. "Because we're all scared."

"Do I look like I'm planning something?" He asked. Everyone stared at him, unsure of what to say.

"…I-is that a trick question?" Gus asked with a nervous smile. TJ sighed.

"I'm not going to do anything. If I did, I would get thrown back in jail, and I'm not gonna let that happen. I just want to finish high school, and get the hell out of this town," He said. "I don't want to be around you guys any more than you want to be around me….but with my little brother being friends with your little sister, Vince, that doesn't look like it's gonna happen." He looked past them to take a glimpse of Zack practicing with the other kids, who were doing cartwheels.

"So…what's with the sunglasses?" Spinelli asked him. "

"That's none of your business. Now if you don't mind, I have a book I would like to read."

"See? He's harmless,"Mikey said after TJ took out his homework and proceeded to ignore them. "Theresa was right."

"That's not what my bruise says," Gus mumbled. "I'm still skeptical. Don't expect me, or anyone else at our school for that matter, to trust him."

"You don't expect everyone to actually believe us when we tell them he's not planning on doing anything, do you?" Spinelli asked him. "They're going to call bullshit on it. I bet that for the rest of the year we're gonna be stuck following him around, making sure he isn't near a set of matches."

"It does make sense though," Gretchen said. "Him not wanting to get in trouble and thrown back in juvie again. If it's as bad as you said it was Spinelli, then perhaps he doesn't want to go back there either. I'm almost willing to give him a second chance just for that reason."

"You're kidding, right?" Vince asked her while watching his sister practice with the other children. "You want us to give him another chance?"

"We don't have to. I'm only saying that it wouldn't hurt to at least _talk_ to him sometime. He can't be completely bad. Spinelli, didn't you say he saved you from being raped by one of the inmates in Duval?"

"That's right. He did," said Spinelli. "He punched the guy and told me to stop being weak. But that's one thing stacked up against everything else. Didn't I tell you guys about the time he came in the room and held a knife to my neck and said that he wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone? That the time he killed that other guy was an 'accident' and killing me would we different because he would do it on purpose? And the time he choked me when I read his journal? Remember that?"

"Oh, yeah."

"But we're not going to get anything done being afraid of him," Mikey said. "What harm could it do?"

"Mikey, you're too forgiving for your own good," Gus said. "I'm not talking to him unless you guys are there with me. I gotta tutor this guy!"

"Gus, stop complaining okay? It's not getting us anywhere." Spinelli snapped at him.

"TJ!" Zack shouted as he ran over and jumped into his arms. TJ looked up from the book he was reading in time to catch him.

"Shouldn't you still be with your class?" TJ asked him.

"Class is over. See?" Zack pointed to the other kids meeting up with their parents. "Can Valarie come over our house and play?"

'Time went by fast,' TJ thought. "Sorry Zack, but I don't think she can't come over today. Maybe another day, like Saturday. Did you learn anything today?"

"I learned how to do a handstand!" He said as TJ helped him put on his coat. "Kept falling at first but know how to know! I'm gonna show you and momma and daddy when we get home."

"Good. I can't wait to see." Once Zack had his jacket on, TJ took his hand and walked over to where Vince was helping his little sister. "You doing anything on Saturday?"

"Uh….no," Vince said. "Why?"

"Bring your little sister over my house on Saturday. These two want to play."

"I should bring my bunnies over to play with your bunny too!" Valarie said to Zack. "Can I, Vince?"  
>"We'll see, Valarie. Saturday, right?" Vince asked him.<p>

"Saturday, at 11. Don't be late," TJ said as he and Zack left. It had stopped snowing earlier, and the snow hadn't stuck to the ground, making the sidewalk wet and making a few shallow puddles that jumped in and splashed as they walked.

~*~TJ's POV~*~

"You know 'bout girls, right TJ?" Zack asked me.

"A little bit," I said. I don't know how much I know. I spend the majority of my time surrounded by other guys, except for that one month. I like to think that spending one month with the girls taught me something about them, but I doubt it.

"They're confusing," He said.

"Why do you say that?" I asked him. Why is this any concern of his? He's three years old.

"'Cause they are. Do you know why they're confusing?"

"Nope."

"Me neither. TJ, can you keep a secret?" Zack asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

"There's this girl at daycare that I really like." He said. What's a three year old doing having a crush on someone? Okay, just hear him out. He's _only_ three. These things come and go. I'll just help him through it. "She's smart and pretty and really good at tag!"

"And what's her name?" He came back over and walked next to me.

"…..Valarie..," he said shyly. Ah. Makes sense. It's sweet though. His first crush. "You're not gonna tell anyone, right?"

"Of course not. I promised, and I keep my promises. But if you like her, then why do you think girls are confusing?"

"Because they are!" He shouted. "We have cookies at snack time and I try to give her one of mine but she tells me to keep it, but when I don't she asked why didn't I try to give her one! It's crazy! She can't make up her mind! We do this every week! Why can't she just take the cookie?"

"I don't know Zack. Girls are like that sometimes."

"Girls are complicated."

"Yes, they are."

"I think they should stop being complicated. Boy's aren't complicated. You ask give us a cookie, and we'll take it. Girls aren't like that at all. It makes everything harder. You know what I think, TJ?"

"What?"

"I think girls are gonna take over the world 'cause boys do anything to get their attention. It's a trap! They're doing it on PURPOSE!" This is coming from a three year old. I think he's been watching too much TV.

"Then what about Valarie? Wouldn't that be a trap?"

"…no, she's different," He said quietly. "What I gotta do to make her my girlfriend?"

"Well Zack, she has to want to be your girlfriend. You have to be nice to her."

"I am nice to her! She's my best friend!"

"Okay, then be even nicer. You could draw her picture, or make her a necklace. Things she likes, you know?"

"No I don't. But I'll try. I just want her to like me back," He said sadly.

"Don't worry Zack. She's already your friend, so she must like you a little bit. And if she doesn't _like_ you, you can still be friends, and that's better than not. Okay?"

""Kay. Thanks!" He said as we came home. As soon as we came inside, he ran upstairs. "I'm gonna draw her a picture!" He said as he ran.

Nice kid. A little too young to have these issues, but it's nothing big. Kids have crushes….

I grabbed the mail before closing the door and searched through it. I don't know why. I came here last Friday. Why would anyone write me a letter?

Wait…this one's for me. And this one…and this one.

I set the rest down on the kitchen table and read the names on the envelope. The first one was from someone named Thelonious Carder. Do I know anyone with that name…?

That's Specs name. His real name. Who's next? This one if from Jojoba Johansson. JoJo. That goes without saying. Then this last one from William Lin is from Bandit. I feel so behind. And I didn't write to them yet.

Now I know what I'm going to be doing from the rest of the night.

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><p><strong>I want a Twitter account, but I don't know what I would even do with it. I feel like I would only get on it when I'm watching old cartoons and I feel like saying little stuff as I watch and no one wants to hear that…<strong>

**Please Review!**


	56. The Wrong Tree

**I'm so behind. I was supposed to be two chapters ahead of where I am now. But that damn _virus_ happened and typing became impossible…I only had access to this site on my phone, which is fine in the middle of the night when I don't feel like getting on my laptop, but not updating.**

**This chapter takes place on the following Wednesday, so keep that in mind as you all read.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Somehow I'm gaining the attention of part of the female population in the school. Only one of them was forward about it. I don't know if this is a trick, or if Ashley A. is serious. Either way, I'm not interested. I don't think she's my type. She's kind of a rich bitch._

_I should look for a job. I'm trying to move out the as soon as I turn 18. Wish I could take Zack with me, but I can't. I'll visit as often as I can, but I want to move out. I need job first. I have enough money to last for a while, but a job is necessary._

_Zack said he likes to draw with chalk. I found something while I was getting paint that he would love. It's like normal paint, but it's like a chalkboard. You can draw on the wall when it's dry. Bad thing is, it's the same color of a normal chalk board, and it's expensive as hell. If I get it, he can draw on a wall to his heart content. But it's expensive…._

_One day._

**~*~V~*~**

Opening his locker, TJ search through the books inside for the few that he needed to do his homework after school was over. He had done the math and English homework during lunch, taking the bulk of the work off his shoulders, leaving only Biology, History, and a little bit of German to do later. Made a mental note to remember to actually _do_ his homework later. Instead of doing it right away, he planned to go to the mall for the hell of it. Maybe get some more clothes, or preferably books. He didn't have to pick Zack up from daycare, but promised to take his little brother with him when Zack overheard him talking to himself about it. He didn't plan on being at the mall long. At the most it would be an hour or two. But he would be home in time to finish unpacking his room and look into getting something called a _Facebook_, even though the name alone sounded ridiculous to him.

Becky had texted him about getting one. She had told him that it would help them keep in touch, but TJ only asked her why they couldn't talk to each other over the phone. He promised he would _consider _getting one, whatever it was, but wasn't making any promises.

Putting the last book he need in his bag, TJ closed his locker and turned to head to Gym class, the second to class of the day, but couldn't walk because of the blue eyed blonde girl standing in front of him.

"Hi," She said with false sweetness dripping from her voice. "So like, what's up?"

"Nothing," he said, looking at her. She wore light blue low-rise jeans, a bright pink polo shirt that was too tight, had the bottom folded up exposing her midriff, and a few too many buttons undone at the top. Though he hadn't spoken to her until this point, TJ recognized her, as well as many other classmates from elementary school. "What do you want, Ashley A.?"

"I just wanted to, like, let you know that I'm totally willing to forget about you lighting the school on fire and stuff," She said with a giggle.

'They're not going to let up on that are they?' He thought. 'Better not feed into it.'

"Why? What are you after?" TJ asked her. "Last time I checked, you and your little group separated yourselves from 'lowly' students like me unless they were up to something."

"You've got me all wrong," Ashley said with a smile. "I'm nothing like that!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! I just wanted to, like, let _you_ know that personally," She said placing her hand on his upper arm. "I'm more willing to, like, you know, hang out sometime, after school. Maybe get to catch up with each other…" She was cut off by TJ taking her hand off of him in a wordless rejection. He reached for the bottom of her shirt and unfolded it, covering her exposed stomach, and buttoned her shirt to a more appropriated level.

"You're a young lady, Ashley A. Start dressing like one," He said, turning and walking away. "I'm not interested."

"What do you mean you're _not interested_?" She said angrily as she followed him. "How can you not be interested? You should be drooling over me and every other girl in this school!"

"I'm still not interested, Ashley A. Please go away."

"Humph! Fine, be that way! But just so you know, I can have any guy here that I want, and you'll be sorry when I'm not available! And you're not getting rid of me, we have the next two classes together!"

"Uh-huh. That's great. I gotta go," TJ said, stopping in front of the gym. "You're not going to follow me into the locker room, are you?" Pouting in defeat, Ashley A. marched pasted him and into the girls locker room. He followed suit by going into the boys locker room.

**~*~V~*~**

'That girl is crazy,' TJ thought as he changed shirts for gym class. The other guys in the locker room went out their way to stay out his. He didn't mind; the locker room was small, and if they were willing to give him more room, then so be it. He didn't complain. 'Just as crazy as I remember her. Are all of them like that? They all can't still be like that.'

Walking past the others, he joined the other students waiting in the gym for class to start. It was still his first week, so he didn't know what was scheduled for the day, but he was aching for another dodgeball game. The last one reminded him on the many they had years ago; pain, bruises, lost teeth and all.

From where he was standing, he could see Ashley A. along with her friends standing across the gym talking amongst themselves, taking a couple of seconds every few moments to look his way, then back to themselves while giggle.

"I swear to God," He mumbled to himself. "Bitch is crazy. Her little minions are, too."

"Hi, TJ." He took his attention off the four girls across the gym to Theresa who was approaching him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, much. Just Ashley A. bothering me," He said looking around. "She was flirting with me before I went into the locker rooms. You've been around her more than I have in that few years. What's her deal?"

"She has a thing for bad boys, that's probably why she's playing attention to you. No offense."

"None taken."

"The only bad thing about it is that she doesn't understand the word 'no' much. She'll keep bothering you for about a month. That's what I hear anyways."

"Okay, she's crazy. I've dealt with crazier people. This is nothing," He said, thinking back to Tommy Gun. "What are we doing today?"

"It's Wednesday, and you can either jog around the court or play basketball today."

"Thanks. Oh, and can you tell something to your boyfriend for me?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Tell your boyfriend he doesn't have to tutor me in German. I worked something out with the teacher." The whistle blown by the coach cut their conversation short. They separated to join their respective classes.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I'm not a fan of basketball, so I opted for jogging. I did that a lot in Duval to keep from being lazy.

I need a car. I said I would visit JoJo while he was still in jail, and I plan to keep my promise, but I don't have any way of getting there. Getting my license would be a good first step, needing that to drive the car that I need to get there. A job would be good too.

JoJo wrote to be saying that his case is being reviewed because they found some sort of security video showing what had happened and it could show his innocence. I hope he gets out. He's one of the few people in there that can do something with their lives. I don't want him to get screwed over again. Hell, what am I going to do with _my_ life? Should I go to college? What would I go for? I don't have any interests that I think I could make money off of.

There's philosophy, but I don't think there are many jobs out there for philosophers. I heard there was a recession while I was locked away, and that we're just getting out of it. That's something else. Economics. But for me, that's the sort of thing I'm good at, but don't enjoy doing. I should enjoy my job, whether or not I make a lot of money. I should just be _employed_ at all.

I'll figure that out later.

They might have driving lessons down at the DMV. I'll look into that.

Look who just strolled up to me.

"I see you've been keeping in shape," Ashley A. said, jogging next to me. "I could barely tell you used to be that little chubby freckled faced kid back at Third Street." Is that supposed to be a compliment?

"I noticed. I'm still not interested. Please go back and jog with your friends."

"Me and my friends are always together. I thought I would keep you company."

"Why? What do you want to know? What are you after?" TJ asked, coming to a stop. "You and everyone else here would only talk to me to try and get something out of me. What is it?"

"I'm just trying to help you out…"

"How?"

"C'mon, you're not dumb. After being locked away for four years around only other guys, there _must_ be _something_ you want," She said, rubbing my arm. Oh I get it.

"Like I said before, I'm not interested," I said, taking her arm off of me. I started to jog again to get away from her. "Please leave me alone."

"How are you not interested?" She yelled following me. "You spent the last four years locked in a cage surrounded by a bunch of other dicks! Of course you're _interested_!"

"You're not my type."

"Then what the hell is 'your type'? I'm the perfect type! Or maybe I just don't have the right _stuff_ to be your type!" She yelled. She better not. I will fuck her up if she even…. "Am I barking up the wrong tree? Maybe if I had a dick you'd be more interested! Is that it? Did all that time in jail turn you gay or something?" By now she's yelling loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the gym. She had to go there. God, if you exist, please stop me from choking this female. I don't want to back to juvie, but I might make an exception in this case and end up killing her.

In all honesty I don't think anyone would miss her.

I came to a screeching halt and marched back over to her. My shadow loomed over her as that smug look on her face was wiped off and replaced with shock. Don't even act surprised. You brought this on yourself.

….I'm not gonna hit her. I want to; I want to smack the three inches of makeup off her face, but I'm not.

"Not every guy wants to fuck you, _Ashley A._ I'm certainly not one of them. Maybe if you left something to the imagination instead of dressing like a two-bit five dollar hooker on the corner of the street then I would look your way. Now, go back to your little clones in your little rich bitch bubble, and leave me alone." She forced that smug look of arrogance back on her face before turning away a going back to her friends. Finally. But now I see everyone looking at me. "The fuck are you people looking at?"

It didn't take them a second to go back to what they were doing. They need to mind their own business.

…..

I didn't tell anyone here that I'm bi, did I? I thought I did…..

…..No I didn't. I told myself it's none of their business, and it still isn't. It isn't that big of a deal to me. Okay then, I won't tell anyone. If it comes up, then I will, but I'm not going out of my way to let everyone know.

…Out of everyone I know, there's one person that I was sure would be up my ass as soon as I stepped foot in this school. Randall. Where is that snitch? I know he's been watching me. Hell would freeze over before he wasn't watching me like a hawk. He's somewhere. What, did he get so good that he hides in the air now?

I need to stop worrying about him. He's not going to find anything that worth much. I'm still keeping a look out.

The bell rang, and I finished the lap I was working on before going back into the locker rooms. Right after I put my clothes back on, I see Gus coming up to me. This is a surprise. He would barely talk to me a few days ago.

"What is it, Gus?" I asked him.

"Theresa said you told her to tell me that you don't need me to tutor you anymore," He said.

"If you must know, I worked something out with the teacher," I told him. "I convince her to let me prove I could speak Yiddish instead because German and Yiddish are a lot alike. And I know how to speak Yiddish because of my grandmother. So don't shit your pants. You don't have to be around me if you don't want to."

My next class is all the way across the building, so I didn't have time to stand around and wait for him to answer; I left.

**~*~V~*~**

"What do you do when I'm at school all day? Sleep and eat?" I asked Duracell as let her out of her cage. I don't expect an answer, just for her to hop around like she normally does. I do wonder if she's getting enough exercise. She was out and hopping around for most of the time. She doesn't seem bothered by it. I think she likes having an actual cage and not a box to sleep in. She started a habit of licking my hand when I'm sitting on the floor. What does that mean? Is it like when a dog licks you because they love you? Or am I doing something wrong? I thought I was doing everything right….

A vet would know. Put that on my list of things to do. Take Duracell to the vet, to make sure she's healthy. She IS a feral rabbit after all, even if she doesn't look like it. Does she miss JoJo, Specs, and Bandit? I do. She loved those guys. I hope not too much. I can't exactly sneak her in to see JoJo, but I could, whenever I get a car, take her to see Specs and Bandit.

"No, no, no, no! Don't do that," I said. She started to chew on some wires near my bed. I picked her up and placed her on my lap away from them. "You gonna electrify yourself if you do that. It's my fault; it my job to keep those wires out of your reach." She started licking my hand. "Do you like it out here, Duracell? Is this better than that gray cell we were in? Of course you do. You have a nice warm cage, plenty of food, clean water, an owner than bends to your every whim…..what more could a rabbit ask for? More food? What would everyone think of me if they all knew that I, this big bad person they're scared of, had a rabbit, a_ mini lop_ of all breeds, for a pet? They'd either think I was one of those psychos who had an unexpected pet, or that I'm a big softie….."

"TJ I'm home!" I looked up to see Zack coming in my room. HE came over and sat down next to me and petted Duracell. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I drew Valarie a picture like you said, and she liked it! She said it was the prettiest picture she ever seen."

"See? All you have to do is be extra nice to her. Is she your girlfriend now?"

"No, but I think if I keep drawing her pictures then she will be."

"That's a great plan. Are you ready to come with me? I'm only going to buy paint for my room."

"I like paint. I wanna go! What's your favorite color?"

"….Hmm…I haven't thought about it," I said, putting Duracell back in her cage and locking it. "We can talk about it on the way there, okay?"

"'Kay!" He ran out the door and a grabbed my coat following him. This shouldn't take longer than an hour.

* * *

><p><strong>I hate myself right now. I let my sleep cycle get out of control to the point that I'm nocturnal. Seriously, I sleep all day and up all night. I hate that. Happens every summer. :P I need to get that fixed. But I like the night better, so it all works out. <strong>

**I didn't have this problem in college, strangely enough.**

**Please Review!**


	57. PlayDate

**Over 200K words! Woo! That's quite a feat. Hopefully, I'll be done before the 300K count. I can't make promises at this point because I feel bad if it don't keep them.**

**Read On!**

* * *

><p>Pouring the gray paint in to the tray, TJ rubbed the sleep out his eyes. It was only 6:30 a.m., and the sun was just beginning to rise and shine through the window. It was Saturday, and since he wanted to have his room painted before Sunday arrived, he had no choice but to do it early in the morning, before Zack woke up and wanted to come in. He had gotten up a half hour ago to push what he could out into the hallway and what he couldn't into the middle of his room. Duracell's cage was placed in Zack's room the night before; he was excited to have his favorite animal sleeping with him. Looking around, he double checked the walls to make sure that the one wall he wanted to keep bare of the gray paint to paint with black later was marked off with two pieces of painters tape in the shape of an X.<p>

He dipped the edger in the paint and smeared the excess off on the tray. He picked the second smallest wall, the one with the window, and painted the edges to avoid a mess.

He choose gray to paint his room with because of his fondness of the color. It reminded him of the place he had been calling home since he was 13. It had plenty of painful memories (Johnny, suicidal Septembers, his own suicide attempt, Tommy Gun), but it also had plenty of good ones. He wouldn't trade his three best friends for anything in the world.

He picked the black paint for no particular reason.

He rolled paint onto the roller and looked at his watch. He wanted to be done putting the paint on in two hours to leave enough time for it to dry and to put everything back in its place. The furniture was black, matching the soon to by gray walls, though that was unintentional as TJ had no goal of decorating a room he only planned to be in for a year or two.

He sneezed, the fumes from the paint going into his nose. It was still cool outside, but warmer than it has been for the last week. He put down the paint roller and cracked open the window to let a small breeze in the clear the air, but not to freeze him. By now the first wall was almost done.

While he and Zack where looking at colors for him to pick out, Zack tried to convince him to paint his room red after he mentioned that it used to be his favorite color. He was able to calm Zack down by promising to have red curtains and not red walls, but the conversation on that particular color reminded him of his infamous red cap.

He still had it; it was in the box that he brought home from Duval. It was a little worn in and slightly faded, but it was his hat. Once he had it back, he put it on, but it didn't feel right. I blamed that on him being a different person than the last time he wore it, but it wasn't comfortable anymore. However, he wasn't going to throw it away.

"I could give it to Zack," He mumbled, finishing his first wall. "Like a hand-me-down. It might be too big for him…..but it was too big for me when I was his age, too."

As they picked through the colors at the paint store, TJ remembered how the paint on the walls of Zack's room has faded form the bright baby blue he saw when he broke out of Duval to its current shade. The walls still had the markings of crayons and markers being scrubbed off the walls. His little brother commented on how he didn't like the color of his room; he said his favorite colors are "a dusty kind of green," a "Nickelodeon orange," and "purple like the grape juice."

Adding that to his growing list of things to do, he made a mental note to look for colors similar to what Zack described, and to somehow paint his room those colors without him knowing.

Now that he was done painting the first three walls, TJ took out his phone to check the time. 8:00 am. Three more hours until Vince was supposed to come over and drop of his little sister and her two bunnies.

A creak from his door caught his attention as he looked over the walls for any spots he missed. He turned to see Zack, clad in footie pajamas coming in.

"Hey, Zack. What are you doing up this early?" TJ asked, walking over to him. He kneeled down to his height. "Did Duracell wake you up?" Zack shook his head and yawned.

"The light from the sun woke me up," Zack yawned. "Are you done painting?"

"Not yet. I have one more wall to paint. Are you up this early every Saturday?"

"Uh-huh. I watch cartoons. Can you turn them on for me?"

"Sure." Seeing that he was still sleepy, TJ picked up his little brother and carried him into the living room. After he found the remote, he turned on the TV and turned the channel to Nickelodeon. "Are you hungry?"

"Not yet," Said Zack. "Thank you, TJ."

"You're welcome, Zack. Come and get me when you're hungry, I'll make you breakfast, okay?"

"'Kay."

When he was back in his room, TJ found the can of black paint and started to paint the last wall. Because of the color, he painted multiple coats to be careful he didn't miss any spots. On his third coat he could smell food being cooked downstairs, freeing him of the job of making his brother breakfast. He sat on hi bed, giving himself a break while checking the wall for the smallest missed spots.

After a few minutes he checked the other walls to make sure they were dry before pushing his bed back to where it was before. When he opened the door to move in the rest of his thing, Zack was standing outside of his door holding a bowl of oatmeal.

"Breakfast," Zack said smiling and holding the bowl up higher. "You like oatmeal?"

"I don't know I haven't had any in a long time," TJ said. "Is that for me?" Zack nodded and TJ took the hot bowl from his hands. "Thanks for bringing it up for me."

"Are you done painting now?"

"Yep, and I'm moving everything back in when I'm done eating. Have you eaten yours yet?"

"No. Can you sit on the couch and eat and watch cartoons with me?"

"Sure. What's on?" TJ asked as he walked with his little brother downstairs.

"The Rugrats. Chuckie's my favorite. C'mon, it's starting!"

**~*~V~*~**

"TJ! TJ! Valarie's here!" Zack shouted as he ran into TJ's room.

"Really? I didn't hear the doorbell ring…"

"I saw her and her brother coming from my window!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go meet them at the door." TJ followed Zack, who was now fully dressed, to the front door. All of his things were now back in his room. The only wall that had nothing on or against it was the wall painted black. He had a feeling that he would use that wall for something, but didn't know what that would be. Duracell's cage was the last thing that he moved back in; he had to hammer nails to hang the curtain rods for the curtains, and his rabbit went crazy hearing loud banging noises.

He didn't wait for the doorbell to be rung before he opened the door. Valarie was stepping onto the porch with Vince carrying a cage with two small rabbits close behind.

"Zack I brung my bunnies!" She said, coming inside. "You better not be lying mister!" She said pointing to TJ. "You better have a bunny like you said."

"I do, I promise," TJ said, holding the door open. "She's upstairs in her cage, eating."

"C'mon, I'll show you," Zack said, going upstairs with Valarie behind him. TJ closed the door once Vince was inside.

"I'm surprised you came. Didn't think you wouldn't," TJ said, leading him to his room.

"Valarie wouldn't shut up about today. There was no way I could talk her out of it," Vince said. "She's stubborn when she want's something."

"At least she won't bother you for the next few hours. You can put the cage down here," he said when they reached his room. Zack and Valarie were sitting on the floor, looking into Duracell's cage.

"Can she come out her cage?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, I'll get her. Valarie, do you want to take your bunnies out?"

"Uh-huh!" While TJ let Duracell out and onto the floor, Valarie did the same with her two rabbits. TJ sat on his bed to give them more room to play on the floor. "This one is Ice Cream," Valarie said, point to the white rabbit with gray spots all over. "That one's Cake." She pointed to the completely light gray rabbit.

As the little kids and animals played on the floor, TJ opened his laptop. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Vince hadn't left; he was still standing in the doorway.

"You don't have to stay here," TJ said, not taking his eye off his computer. "I'm not going to hurt her, if that's what you think."

"Oh, um, I know," Said Vince."It's just…."

"I'm still me. I get it," He said. "Stay as long as you want, I don't care. But I'm not going to hurt your little sister either way either way."

"TJ, what's it mean when bunnies lick each other?" Zack asked. TJ looks down on the fllor and saw Duracell being licked by Cake. "Do they like each other?"

"That's right."

"You should draw a picture, Zack. You draw really good pictures," Valarie said.

"'Kay. My crayons are in my room." The two of them got to their feet and left the room, leaving their brothers and the rabbits behind.

"What's going on with you?" TJ asked, moving to sit on the floor. "Are you the captain of every sports team?"

"I'm not on every team, just the basketball team. And I'm not the captain," Said Vince. "Lawson is."

"That must suck. He's always been an asshole."

"He actually not that bad. He gets an ego sometimes, but he's good. What about you? Did you play any sports in juvie?"

"We don't have sports in juvie. We didn't have any equipment to play. The most we could scrape up was soccer. And _dodgeball_."

"Are you gonna try to join the soccer team?"

"No. I'm not a fan of sports," TJ said as Duracell hopped over and onto Vince's shoe.

"You're a fan of little fluffy bunnies."

"….yeah, I am."

"...Okay. I think….i think I'll leave. Can you get your rabbit off my shoe?" TJ snapped his fingers two times and Duracell came over to him.

"I'm planning on going out for pizza later. If you come back to pick Valarie up later and she's not here, we'll be at that one place that has pizza and arcade games. _Davies_ I think it's called."

"Alright. Thanks for babysitting."

"Mmm-hmm."

**~*~V~*~**

"So how'd it go?"

With his little sister wanting to go over to her friend's house which also happened to be the so-called devils den, Vince called his friends for any necessary backup. As he dropped his sister off and stayed to see if there was any real danger, the others waited over at Spinelli's house for a phone call telling them to come over. The phone never came. Instead, their concerns were put to rest when Vince walked through the door.

"He….he's…."Vince said, struggling to come up with an answer. "He's harmless."

"_Harmless_?" Gus said in disbelief.

"Yeah, harmless. He has a pet rabbit named Duracell. Like the battery. A guy like that CAN'T be that bad," Said Vince. "Any guy who has a pet rabbit of all things is a push over. And possibly gay. He's not going to do anything. If I thought he would, I wouldn't have left my sister over there. He's even taking them out of pizza later. He's harmless."

"Perhaps Theresa was right, Gus," Gretchen suggested. "Spending all that time behind bars could've changed him. You never know."

"He said that he would take them to _Davies_ later. I'm going there to pick Valarie up later. You should come if you're so concerned, but I think we're worrying over nothing."

**~*~V~*~**

"Okay, you two go play. I'll call you all over when the pizza comes."

TJ watched Zack and Valarie run off to the indoor playground as he sat down at one of the available booths. From his seat he could keep an eye on them. At home, the rabbits were in their separate cages after playing all day. He half expected Vince to show up with the others, only because it didn't seem like the whole him actually being there was going to die down anytime soon. Until the pizza came, he was on his phone texting Specs and Bandit. They exchanged numbers through the letters they were writing to one another.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Specs said he's trying to go to college. Good for him. He'll probably go for something only really smart people can go for, like nuclear physics or something. He says he doesn't _want_ to go, but that no one's going to take him seriously if he doesn't have a degree.

Bandit says he doesn't know what he wants to do. Something with music, but he doesn't know yet. Like me.

JoJo hasn't mentioned college. He's focusing on his case. Last I heard, that tape was being looked over.

I think I want to go to college.

I can move my eye now. It's still infected, but the discoloration is gone and I can move it. I don't have to wear the shades anymore, but I do. I tried on the red contact lenses, too. I look possessed by the devil with them on.

I'm wearing them to school Monday, without the shades. Can't wait.

I see Vince just came in, the others right behind them.

"Your sister is over at the playground with Zack," I told them when they all came over. "I ordered pizza, but I didn't expect all of you to come."

"I didn't plan for them to come either," Said Vince. "But some of them didn't believe me when I said you were harmless."

'Harmless?' I thought. 'I'm not harmless. _Mostly_ harmless, but not completely.'

"Let me guess. Gus said that, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, that was me," Gus said. "It's nothing against you personally!"

"I'm not going to hurt anyone, Gus. My whole experience in Duval made me not want to hurt any one. Would it make you feel better if I told you want that experience was?"

"A little bit."

"Fine then. You all better listen because I'm only saying all off this once. When I got there, I was given a roommate named JoJo. He was jerk at first, but he's okay. That same day I met another inmate called Tommy Gun. He wouldn't leave me alone and punched the entire left side of my face. That whole side of my face was swollen for a month. I could see through my left eye and it looked like if I touched it, it would bleed. Because I was new I got treated like shit. It's all about seniority in there. I tried to figure out some way to move up the peeking order. Then I saw the guards making the inmates fight for Chinese food for their own entertainment. The food in there was crap, so I don't blame those inmates for fighting. When the bruising went away, Tommy Gun came around and cut my face. That's how I got this scar." He paused to good over the scar with his finger, but not taking off the shades. "I had to go to the hospital to get stitches. Right after I came back, I was put in the white rooms. The white rooms are where they put inmates who _the guards_ say are a danger to themselves or everyone else. I don't understand why I was put in there. I wasn't hurting anyone. It's exactly what it sounds like: a white room, lined with plush walls. It looked nice, because I was way from all the noise of the normal dorms. I hated every part of it, but I didn't hate it until the second time I went in there.

"The first time I was in there, I realized what I did you guys and everyone else was wrong and horrible. I wrote that letter to you guys to apologize, remember that letter? I wrote it, and mailed it. The same day I came out of the write rooms I wrote it. I had a weird dream that night. I was looking at myself, but I was ten years old. My younger self told me he didn't want to turn into me. I still have that dream sometimes.

"JoJo introduced me to his friends. I'm still friends with them. Two of them are out on parole now, but JoJo's still in jail. You know JoJo, right Spinelli? He was the one that called you a Trick. I don't think he meant it as an insult. He gives people nicknames. He gave me Freckles, and I think he was giving you Trick. Later that day, I saw another inmate being brought out in a body bag. There's this thing in there called Suicidal September. It's when a lot of the inmates decide to kill themselves. It takes place in April and drags into May, but Suicidal September sounded better, according to JoJo. I thought they were lucky because they got to leave. They were creative in how they killed themselves, too. One guy hanged himself in front of everyone by jumping off the stairs with a noose around his neck. Another snatched one of the guards guns and shot himself. One electrified himself in a puddle using a taser gun.

I wanted to know what it felt like, as sick as that sounds.

And then I was put back in the white rooms. That's when I hated it.

"If you didn't do what the guards said they would beat the inmates. These were kids. Some of them were 10 and those guards who were triple their age would beat them for not listening. When you got into your room, the lights never went out and they always buzzed. Something the guards decided to fuck with us and turn the lights on and off, on and off. These rooms didn't have bathrooms, you had to ask the guards to let you out, but they didn't always say yes. We didn't eat everyday either. We skipped plenty of meals and sometimes didn't eat for days. A few of them, including me, were put into strait jackets and given a tranquilizer. And there was this one inmate that was across from me. His name was Johnny. He was in there since he was nine. We kept each other company, though we could talk to each other because of the doors. But the doors had glass on them, so we blew steam onto the glass and wrote. He was so sweet. He said he loved me, and I told him I loved him back."

"You said you loved him?" Asked Gus. "So does that mean you're, you know, gay?"

"No, I'm not gay."

"So you're straight then?"

"No."

"Then what are you?"

"There's a little thing called bisexual, Gus. Let me finish. So I told him I loved him, and I did love him. A couple of weeks later he said he loved me again, I told him I loved him again, but I knew something was wrong. He then said what was about to happen wasn't my fault and not to blame myself. Then he backed up and ran head first into the door, snapping his neck and killing himself. I cried for so long after that. I still miss him. He didn't deserve that.

"I don't know how long after that I was taken out of the white rooms, but when I was I has gotten a the letter from you guys saying how you all were never going to forgive me. It pushed me a little too far. I had a knife under my pillow. I took it, and I laid in bed. I tried to kill myself by slitting both my wrists." He paused and showed them the scars left on his wrists. "JoJo must've found me because I woke up in the hospital. When I was out, me and my friend made a pact to protect each other. Tommy Gun wouldn't leave me alone though. I needed to find a way to make money. That's when I started to sell drugs. I made a crazy amount of money from that. I started out selling meth, and that moved to cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD….I did some of those myself. Not all the time; once or twice a month was my limit. I even sold drugs to the guards. One of those guards raped me 'cause I wouldn't sell him any. When I turned 15, I was moved over to the older dorms. There was huge racial divide in there, but they didn't bother us.

"Tommy Gun kept harassing me every day. I couldn't tell if he was joking or was hitting on me, but I wanted it to stop. He kept trying to get me to 'work' for him but I didn't know what that meant. I had stopped selling drugs by then. It turned out he wanted me to be a hooker for him. I didn't, but I the only way to get Tommy to leave me alone was to actually do it, just not for him. So I did it. I sold myself, but not for cheap. I had good paying and loyal customers too. One guy paid up to $400 dollars. If I had to guess, I would say that I slept with at the very least I slept with half of the guys in there. But I stopped for the month Francis and Spinelli were in there with me.

"Tommy Gun, being the sadistic bastard he is, came and offered me $5000 dollars to sleep with him. I loathe him, but I couldn't turn that much money down. Not then, and not the next three times. And I don't care what you all think about me for saying this, but he was amazing. He sent me to the moon and back every time we slept together. I hated him for being the one to be able to do that. I shook him off, but after a series of unfortunate events, I did end up working for him. The others came to my rescue after a few days, and Tommy finally got the message.

"That was about it until I got the form to apply for parole. I didn't expect to get approved, but I was, and here I am. I can't leave the state, or get into trouble or they'll lock me up again. Now you all know. I hope it makes you all feel better."

They weren't expecting that, were they? They were expecting me to say I got in, took charge, and got out. Not have a whole story. That's what I expected when I first got there.

"I don't _want_ to hurt people anymore," I told them. "But that's it. I don't _want_ to, but I know myself enough to know that I have issues that make that hard for me. I'm a pyromaniac, and I have psychopathic tendencies, but I'm trying to help that. I am sorry for doing all those things when I was younger, and making up for it is going to be next to impossible, but I'm trying. Give me that. I'm trying to put that behind me and move on. I don't want to hurt people anymore. And I know for most people in this town, it's hard to believe, and I don't expect everyone to forgive me. I just want to let you all know that."

"How?" Spinelli asked. "How are you trying to help it?"

"The courts assigned me a psychologist, Mr. Simmons. I talk to him once a week. I thought it was bullshit, but he's helps a lot."

"And you mean it when you say you're _trying_?"

"Yep."

"…..Alright. I'll bite. I'll give you another chance. But know that I'm careful about this whole thing. What about the rest of you?" Slowly, one by one they agreed.

"Thanks."

"TJ! TJ!" I turned and saw Zack and Valarie running over. "Is the pizza here yet? I'm hungry."

"Almost. It's coming over right now, see?" I pointed over to the waiter bring over the pizza. "Are you guys staying to eat? I can order another one if it's not enough." They all nodded and sat down in the booth. Zack sat on my lap and Valarie sat on Vince's.

I had to order another pizza. I didn't know little kids could eat so much, and you have six teenagers, four of which are guys, two of those guys being proud gluttons. I didn't say much aside from the ordering another pizza. Mostly listened as they talked about what's been going on in their live while I was gone. Zack and Valarie were having their own conversation.

We ended up staying there two hours longer than I planned. It was okay; I had nothing else planned for the day.

Tomorrow is another matter.

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><p><strong>Wasn't expecting that, did you? Thought I'd throw that in there. Next chapter will go slower, but it'll be nice.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	58. Meet Zack

**Hiya folks.**

**I want to take this time to remind you readers that there were a few things that was not mentioned in the last chapter when TJ told them about what happened while he was gone. The inmate that he killed, Alex, and breaking out of Duval to name a few. There's a reason for that, which will be explained as the story progresses. **

**Also, this chapter doesn't focus so much on the gang as much as the last chapter. The following chapter will, but not this one. I'm working out the kinks for the next chapter. As a result, this chapter is shorter than I would like. **

**I don't know about you all, but I'm not a fan of the images next to the stories that added. It's distracting, in my opinion.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I'm not sure where my relationship with the guys stands at this moment. We've reconciled, and that's great, but now what? Are we going to try to be friends again? I don't believe we can ever get back to the strong friendship we had before. We can get to be acquaintances, hang out a couple times, but being friends? That's kind of a stretch._

_I'll sleep on it._

**~*~V~*~**

"TJ where we goin'?" Zack asked as we walked down the street. I was planning on going alone, but Zack wanted to come. It's like I can't say no to him, being my little brother. He's a quiet kid, shouldn't be too much trouble with his coloring book and crayons in his backpack. He wasn't much trouble when I told him I was the person that he was talking to on the phone.

I caught him waiting by the phone on Thursday. I always called on Thursday's when I was in Duval. I knew I would have to tell him he was talking to me, but I didn't know if he would believe me. I told him I knew who Mr. Stranger was and that he was me. He looked surprised, so I told him about a few of the things we talked about. It's our little secret.

"To a friend of mine," I told him. It had snowed overnight, and I was holding his hand in case he slipped on ice and fell.

"Is he your best friend?"

"Not exactly. He's more like a role model to me. He visited me while I was gone."

"What's a role model?"

"A role model is someone you look up to, someone you want to be like when you grow up. Do you have a role model, Zack?"

"I don't know."

"That's okay," I said, walking up to the house I was headed to. "You're only three, you don't need a role model yet." It's been years, but I still remember where this house is. I should; I spent plenty of time in here. Is his car in the drive way? Yeah. I choose not to break in like I used to; I rang the doorbell instead. "Zack, when we get inside, I need you to be on your best behavior okay? You can't scream or shout in here."

"You mean use my inside voice like teacher says?"

"Exactly," I said, hearing footstep approaching from inside. "You have your coloring book with you. We won't be too long." I turned back to the door when it started to open. I kept holding Zack's hand as he hid behind me. "Hello, sir."

"Detweiler, I was beginning to think you would never visit," said Prickly. "And all the times I've visited you."

"I said I was going to visit when I got out," I said putting my hands up defensively. "I've just been busy with moving back in and school….and catching up with my little brother." I looked back down at Zack, who is still hiding behind me. "I hope you don't mind me bringing him. He wanted to come. He'll be quiet."

"No, it's no problem at all," he said letting us in. Zack held on to my jeans as he both came in from the cold. "What's his name?"

"You won't believe what his name is," I whispered. "His name's Zackary David."

"…You don't say," He said, looked behind me to get a look at Zack. "What are the chances of that?"

"I know. It's crazy. It's okay Zack, there's nothing to be afraid of…"

"Are you a friend of TJ's?" Zack asked.

"Why yes I am."

"Then you can call me Zack, 'kay?"

"Zack, why don't you go into the living room and work on your coloring book?" He nodded and walked away into the living room.

"Nice kid. Is he just like you?" asked Prickly.

"No, I don't think so. He's more introverted; I was more extroverted at that age, according to my parents," I said. "So what's going on? How retirement treating you these days? Did you go to that golf course in Augusta like you said?"

"I just go back from there a few weeks ago. The course was beautiful. Must've played golf on it about ten times."

"Good. I thought you were only spending your retirement visiting me," I said, following him up the stairs.

"Oh no. Of course not. I've been travelling between the two times a month I visit you. But something did happen to me about a week ago."

"What was it?"

"I got a call from the principal of the high school," He said going into one of the rooms. I went inside as saw there were boxes against the wall. a few were on the floor and open. What caught my eye was the faded and peeling green wallpaper printed with dinosaurs. "He, and the rest of the school board, wants me to come out of retirement and be the principal there. I'm guessing that seeing you enrolled there had something to do with it."

"Because you're the only one who knows me," I said. "Doing some cleaning around here?"

"Yeah. I don't need all this stuff. Most of it I'm throwing out, but I'm glad you brought your brother. This is all Zack's stuff, my Zack, I mean," He said, looking through some of the boxes. "You won't believe how many of these boxes are toys. How old is Zack?"

"He's three."

"My Zack was five or six when he….you know. I was planning on either donating or throwing most of his toys out, but if there's a kid who wants any of these then they can have them."

"Zack has plenty of toys of his own, but one or two would be okay."

"How's school coming along? Is it a big change from Duval?" He asked after a while. I was helping his sort through some of the boxes and move then outside. They were heavier than what they looked. Now that the window was unblocked it was brighter in the room. After going in and out of the house a few times, I noticed how it looked. The paint was chipping, some of the blinds were tilting and coming off the hinges, and I couldn't see the lawn because of the snow, but if it's anything like the outside of the house, it needs to be cut, watered, and weeds needed to be pulled. He had really let this place go. It's fine on the inside, minus all the dust, but the outside is another matter. I checked on Zack, and he was content coloring in the living room.

"The classes are harder, but not that different. There's the whole social aspect of it, but I wasn't planning on getting too involved with that part. I just want to get in, and get out," I said, opening another box full of toys.

"Have you talked to your old friends?"

"I was forced to, actually. Vince has a little sister that goes to Zack's daycare, and the two of them are friends. He even has a little crush on her."

"What's a three year old doing with a crush?"

"That's what I said. He needs to go back to playing with his tinker toys! But he's a little kid, still a toddler. I figure that it'll blow over and he'll forget about ever having one. It's innocent at his age. Not like he's trying to do something. He thinks girls are confusing."

"Better he learns that now than later."

"Right. I wonder how it'll end. But yeah I was forced to talk to them because Vince's sister wanted to come over and play with Zack yesterday. I was planning on coming yesterday, but that had to be moved to today. I took them out for pizza and I met the guys there and told them everything. They said they would give me another chance."

"That's good. Are you going to try to be friends with them again?"

"I'm not sure. I only want to finish high school. Get it over with so I can move on. I don't want to get wrapped up in the whole high school drama BS."

"Do you want to go to college?"

"I'm not sure about that either. What would I go for? I'm not interested in anything that would give me a job. There aren't many jobs for philosophy majors."

"Philosophy majors normally go on to law school," He said. "How does that sound?"

"It's not for me. Law school costs an arm and a leg. Besides, I'm not interested in law. I think I'll minor in philosophy. I need a major that'll make me money. Speaking of money, I'm looking for a job. I know you're my _elementary _school principal, but can I use you as a reference when I apply? The only other one I have is Mr. Simmons."

"I'm not sure how credible it'll be, but go ahead. It's going to be hard enough for you to get a job with everyone knowing who you are." I grabbed the broom against the wall and started o sweep the dust on the floor. This room was filthy, must've be closed for years. Before I was about to open another box, I saw Zack come over to me in the corner of my eye. I turned to him, and saw he was holding a teddy bear in his arms.

"Hey Zack. When did you come in here?" I asked, kneeling down to his height. "Where'd you get that teddy bear?"

"I found it," He said, hugging it. "In one of the boxes."

"That was one of my sons. In fact, it looks like that one was his favorite," Said Prickly. "He called it Gabby. You can have it you want, Zack."

"Thank you, sir."

"It looks sort of dirty," I said looking over it.

"When you get home, make sure to wash it to be on the safe side. It's been packed away in these boxes for God knows how long. I have no clue what could be in its fur," Prickly said.

"What's your son's name?" Zack asked.

"His name was Zack, just like your name."

"Really? That's amazing! Do we have the same middle name too?"

"Yeah, his middle name was David, too."

"Wow! No one else at daycare has my name! I like my name. It begins with a Z and Z is a weird letter."

"Do you know all the letters of the alphabet, Zack?" I asked him. He has to in order to know that Z is a letter.

"Uh-huh. Teacher taught me when I was bored at daycare. She taught me how to write my name, too."

"Then you must be very smart. Not a lot of three year olds can write their name."

"That's what momma and daddy says too. I'm gonna go back and finish coloring now." I watched him walked out the door and back downstairs.

"He looks like him a little bit," I heard Prickly said.

"It's the hair, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and if he had green eyes, it would be that too. What are the chances of that happening?"

"Low, I think."

"How'd you two get over here? It's freezing outside. You didn't walk, did you?" I nodded.

"It's all I had. I don't have a license, let alone a car. And it's not that cold outside. I'm working on getting a license. I'm going down to the DMV next weekend to see if they have driving lessons, and I'm looking for a job to buy a car. It's all a vicious cycle. For the meantime, I'm catching up with my brother."

I stayed there for another hour helping him clean before heading home. Zack got to keep the teddy bear, and one of those boards with the magnetic pin attached to draw pictures on. I promised I would come back over next weekend to help clean out the attic. The guy is getting old and needs help with those boxes. I don't mind. He's helped me plenty of times. I owe him the favor.

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><p><strong>I have good news and bad news!<strong>

**The good news is, Randall will be in the next chapter. The bad news is, I don't know how this story will end, but that's far from now. I'll work it out.**

**What do you all think TJ would go to college for after all this? I'm interested in what you all think. I'm working on giving him a hobby that relates to it.**

**Please Review!**


	59. Red Eye's

**It's time like this I'm glad I'm out of high school. I had to dissect a shark for zoology class. It wasn't a big shark, just a little one. It smelled horrid and it lingered on us all day. I had a dream about it. Thankfully, my science credit in college is coming from Astronomy classes. Hooray!**

**Enough about that, most of you are waiting to see Randall in this chapter. He won't just be in this chapter and disappear for the rest of the story; he'll have a role to play in the story later.**

**Read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_This is the last time I'm doing something like this, I swear. This one was for old time's sake. It was calling me to do it. It's not like I caused physical harm to anyone. Mental harm, maybe, but not physical._

_But it was a fun day, none the less. I was only going to wear these for one day, but I think I'll wear these on a regular basis._

**~*~V~*~**

Do these clothes fit me? As far as being the type of clothes I would wear?

….Hell if I know. I've only been out here for a week. I'd wear my old Duval uniform if it wouldn't make everyone stare at me more than they already were. It's Monday morning, and so far, I'm wearing all black. Black jeans, black button up shirt, and black shoes. My blonde hair is even more noticeable against it. Hmm….I'm not sure about the shirt. What else do I have?

I normally don't pay much attention to what I wear, but I'm going for a particular look today. I'm wearing my red contacts now that the infection in my blind eye is almost gone. I look like the fucking anti-Christ with those things on. That's why I care about the clothes I'm wearing. I have to look the part.

Ah, here's a good shirt. It's black, but it has a smiley face drawn on it in a sickly green color. Do I have anything else? A red shirt or a black shirt with red on it would be ideal. Here's one. It's black, but with a red picture of a flame on it. Even better.

I took off the button up and put on the t-shit. I looked on the floor for Duracell before walking back over to my bed. I let her out of her cage while I'm getting ready for school. Get a little exercise before I put her in the cage for seven hours or more. What's that tickling my arm? It's the tag on my shirt. These clothes are still new. I tore the tag off and threw it in the trash. Why didn't I take them all off when I got them? I checked my phone to see what time it was. I have 20 minutes until school starts. Plenty of time left. I grabbed the small box of colored contacts and took out the red ones. I hate the feeling when I first put them in, but it goes away fast. I blinked a couple of times before reaching down and picking up Duracell. I put her back in her cage before heading to the bathroom to wash my hands and check my eyes.

Everything looks good. Great, 'cause if I don't leave now, I'll be late.

I went back in my room, double checked to make sure Duracell had enough food and water, put on my coat, grabbed my backpack (the same one I used in juvie, for extra effect), and my hat….no, I'll leave the hat. The blonde hair needs to be seen. I wear the shades until I get to school. Zack wasn't up yet. He doesn't leave for daycare until an hour later.

I left the house and saw that it was snowing lightly, but not sticking to the ground. It takes a walk to get to school so I wasted no time walking. Last week went by slow. I'm hoping this week goes by faster. Schools bad enough but when it goes by slow you want to rip your hair out.

"Hey!"

Who's that? I turned to see who was calling after me and I see Spinelli running up to me. What does she want?

"What is it?" I asked her.

"As a part of this whole giving you another chance thing, I thought I would walk to school with you," She said. "Do you mind?" That's a good question. Do I? I was planning on using this time to think.

"It's fine," I said as kept walking. Now I know today is going to be long.

"Where were you yesterday? We were all hanging out at my house and we wanted you to come with us, but when we came over to ask you if you wanted to, you weren't home," She asked.

"I was over Principal Prickly house."

"Principal Prickly? What were you doing over at his place?"

"He was the only person who visited me when I was in Duval. I said I would come over when I got out, and I was going to keep that promise. I'm going back over next weekend to help him clean out his attic. He's getting old and needs all the help he can get," I told her. "What'd you all do yesterday?"

"Nothing much. We mostly just watched movies," she said. "Your parents didn't visit you?"

"They did when I first got there, but only once or twice. They didn't come back after that. Didn't answer my phone calls either," I explained. "Prickly did, though. He promised he would the day before I was sentenced." We walked in silence for a long time after that. I was hoping to walk in silence before, but not now since I'm walking with her. There's something about walking with someone else in silence that I don't like. "Sorry about putting that knife to your throat when you were in Duval. I wasn't going to slit your throat."

"Then why would you do it in the first place? You scared the hell out me!"

"Remember when I said I had psychopathic tendencies? That was a part of it." I still have that knife. I didn't get rid of it when I left Duval. I have that, and the gun that I used when I broke out of Duval. But the gun is unloaded, the safety is on, and it's in a shoe box at the top of my closet out of reach where Zack can't get to it.

"Those psychopathic tendencies….what are those exactly? Do you hear voices in your head?" Oh God, Alex. I haven't heard from him in a long time. Thank God. He was getting on my last nerve. I can't even slit _his_ throat so he would die and leave me alone for good.

"Spinelli, you don't want to know what goes on in my head. If you did, you wouldn't want to be walking next to me, let alone be in the same state. Just know I'm not going to act on it, alright?"

"And you want us to trust you on this?" The irony is I'm going to scare the shit out of people today by just existing. And blinking my eyes. My red eyes. That make me look like the devil incarnate.

"Yeah, trust me." By know we've reached school. I have an extra five minutes….can I wait until lunch for a cigarette? …..no, I can't. I stopped before going outside and reached in my pocket for them and the lighter.

"You smoke?"

"Mmm-hmm," I mumbled as I lit it. "I won't be out here too long. You don't have to wait for me." She didn't say anything as she went inside. I'm the only one out here. A few minutes of peace before class starts. I took off the shades and blinked to adjust to the brightness and hooked the shades on the neck of my shirt using one of the arms. I feel safer with them there and not in my bag where they can break.

Have you ever had that feeling that you were being watched? That's what I'm feeling at this moment. It's weird. I was always being watched at one time or another in Duval, whether it was the guards, Tommy Gun, or one of the guys, but this is weird. It's not a normal 'being watched' either. It's that I don't know _who's_ watching.

I have an idea of who it is, but I don't have time for this. I have to get to class. I tossed what was left of my cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times before opening the doors and heading inside.

Not even five steps inside and I'm already getting looks of anguish and fear. I give them a smile.

And the get the fuck out of my way. Nice.

Let me get to class before I'm too wrapped up in the moment. They'll be plenty of time today to bathe in the growing cesspool that is everyone's urge to call in the SWAT Team.

**~*~V~*~**

"Umm…TJ, is there any reason why your eyes are red?" Vince asked as we worked on dissecting a shark in biology class. Yeah right, I'm the only one doing anything; slicing and cutting this mother fucker looking for a duodenum. Vince is standing by being a pussy. This shark does stink though, I'll give him that.

"They're red because….I don't know. Maybe God woke up one day and said 'fuck it, I'll give the little anti-Christ red eyes, it looks better and I'm having a slow day in the creation department.' Or you know, whatever," I said, slicing into the shark. "Not that I'm evil or nothin'."

"I'm not a genius or anything, but that's not a natural eye color," He said, trying to hold in his breakfast. "Shouldn't you get that checked out by, I don't know, a _doctor_?"

"Why?" I asked, turning to face him.

"Because you're freaking some people out," Said Vince. "And it can't be healthy."

"That's their problem," I said, returning to the dead shark in front of me. "I have no problem with my eyes. Do you?"

"I think it's kind of creepy looking."

"That's too bad. Hey, how about instead of whining, you help me cut open Jaws over here?" I asked, handing him the tool the teacher gave us. I did my half, it's his turn. I'm not trying to smell like fish for the rest of the day; it's only second period. "You're not squeamish, are you?"

"It's a dead shark. It's probably rotting somewhere on its corpse," He said poking at it. "What ever happened to dissecting frogs?"

"I hear they dissect human bodies in college," I said in an attempt to make him vomit.

"That's not legal, is it?"

"I dunno. If they do, I'd like to learn how to I can tear apart all those bodies in my garage without making a mess," I told him. Now I'm simply being evil. "They're taking up too much space and they smell worse than the shark."

"…..you're kidding, right?" He asked with a nervous laugh. I smiled (which I'm sure looks worse at this point) and took off my rubber gloves. "That's a joke to try and scare us, isn't it?"

"If that's what you want to believe."

**~*~V~*~**

I would say things are going as planned today. Frightened a few innocent civilians, turned in my homework, and so far I avoided Ashley A., and her whorish ways. It's going well. I made it to lunch without a hitch.

But I still have that feeling of being watched. I'm taking a few minutes from lunch to go outside and smoke. Everyone is looking, especially since someone bumped into me in the hall and I dropped my lighter. Their eye's bugged out of their heads.

Jesus it's cold out here…..

….

Did I just hear something? I did. And I think I know where it came from, too. I walked over to the trash cans where I heard the noise come from quietly. I took off the top and….

Oh shit, look who it is. It's the rat.

I grabbed him by the back of his trench coat and lifted him out of the trashcan.

"Oh, uh…h-hey. Long time now see," He said with his voice shaking. He still has that damn hunchback. That can't be healthy.

"What do want, Randall?"

"What, a guy can't sit in a trashcan in peace?" He asked me.

"No, he can't. You were spying on my, weren't you?"

"Well…uh…you see—"

"A yes or no would be enough, Weems," I said, interrupting his babbling.

"….yes," He said putting his hands up to protect himself. "Don't kill me! I was only doing my job!"

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, putting him back down on his feet. "I was looking around for you."

"For me? Why? Are you after retribution for all those times I snitched on you guys back at Third Street?"

"Didn't I just say I wasn't going to hurt you? I was expecting you to be up my ass the moment I set foot in town, and I was right, wasn't I? I need your help."

"What do you need me for?"

"I need you to get the word around that I'm not going to hurt anyone and that I'm mostly harmless. I know people are gonna come up to you and ask you if you have any dirt on me. You need to tell them that I'm not up to anything."

"Why would I do that?"

"_Mostly_ harmless, Randall. Mostly. I can still kick your ass if you don't! if it makes you feel any better, you can keep stalking me like the poor little twisted freak you are. You won't find anything. But you have to keep your end of the deal, got it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, you don't," I said, heading back inside. "But don't worry. I'm _mostly_ harmless." I went back into the lunchroom. I'm not in the mood for what they were serving in the lines, so I went straight to the salad bar. Vegetables are delicious after not eating them for four years. It was easy getting to the front of the line when everyone got out of my way without me saying a word. I sat at one of the empty tables in the corner, and I hoped to eat alone because dealing with everyone during gym was going be both a bitch, and something that puts a smile on my face, but that doesn't look like that's going to happen because they're coming over. And who the hell is that dude?

"I know we all agreed to try and start off on the right foot, but I didn't mean spend this much time together," I said. "You all were fine eating over there last time I checked. Why'd you all come over here?"

"Because eating alone makes you look lonely," Said Mikey. "And we want to introduce you to a friend of ours." He motioned over to that guy who I never seen before.

…

Holy fuck.

This guy.

He looks like me. Exactly like me. Well, if I wasn't bleaching my hair blonde, let my blue eyes show, and didn't have the blind eye, he is what I would look like. Fucking clone. Somewhere between now and before I entered the Twilight Zone.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"My name's Ralphie," he said holding his hand out. What is this, a job interview? I reluctantly took his hand a shook it. I don't like him already. You know how when someone who you never met before in your entire life and you_ know _you're not going to like them, even before they get two words out of their mouth? It's like that. There's something off about him and I don't like it. "They told me all about you."

"They did, huh? Then you must have some really big balls to stand here and talk to me. Where were you last week?"

"I was out with the flu." Still don't trust him. Is this who they replaced me with? Jesus, they could've at least picked someone who didn't look like me. Looks like they were trying too hard.

I feel as if I know him from somewhere. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't name it. It's important, I can tell. Mmm….

Where do I know him from?

* * *

><p><strong>I got the whole 'mostly harmless' from a phrase in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I love that book. A character, Ford (yes, like the car), describes Earth as being 'mostly harmless.' Love it. Good book, too.<strong>

**Hiddenbehindthecurtains: Randall is a strange one, isn't he? I'm going to turn that down by a lot in this story. There's only so much strangeness I can write believably.**

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	60. Universal Language

**So we have a new character in this ever growing drama! Little fact: I named Ralphie after the character on The Magic School Bus because he and TJ look alike. It's creepy, it is. Just a fact.**

**I'm happy that this fandom is getting more stories written in it. I thought I was beginning to die. **

**Good forth and read!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_How did I get myself wrapped into this? This girl doesn't understand the word 'no.' I blame her parents. They spoiled her rotten, being rich and all. But she has potential, I'll give her that. Why is she dumbing herself down? It's not cute._

_Maybe I'm too quick to judge her. I'll give her a shot. _

**~*~V~*~**

"Ashley A., will you please go away? Being this desperate is not appealing."

"I'm just saying that, like, adjust back into a normal social structure must be hard for you, and I'm trying to help."

"By stalking me?"

The only person who was immune to my attempts to scare everyone just so happens to be the one person I want to leave me alone the most. I might've inadvertently attracted Ashley A. by wearing these contacts. It was bad enough in gym where we were playing dodgeball and she was on the same team as me (by her own accord). Then we have civics together and she sat right next to me. I'm all against violence against women and all, but sometimes I just want to choke a bitch. The one that's bothering me, I mean.

I'm not going to do it, though. I'm trying to be more patient and hope she gets the message.

I thought I was free from her when the day ended. She's rich; she must have her own car to drive home, or better yet, a driver to take her home, but no. She's walking here next to me. She has a driver, but the driver is following us.

"It's not stalking when I'm trying to help," She said as we walked down the street. Her driver was on the road next to us, annoying the hell out of the cars behind him.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Ashley. I'm adjusting to life here just fine. Please leave me alone."

"What's your deal? Most guys would be falling over their own feet for me! And you, the one guy who spent four years locked in a cage with a bunch of other guys, depraved of any contact from girls isn't attracted to me. What's with that?"

"I never said I wasn't attracted to you. I just so happen to think you're very attractive, especially since I last remember you as being that unbearable spoiled little girl. You're putting words in my mouth," I said. "I'm not interested is all. It's has nothing to do with you, if it makes you feel better."

"…It does a little bit," She mumbled. "Can you at least do me a favor?" I sighed. She doesn't give up easily. Stubborn, just as I remember her.

"What is it?"

"I saw you doing you math homework during lunch."

"And?"

"I'm not so good in Trig. Think you can help me out and tutor me before I completely flunk?"

"How can you be having trouble? You're in the same grade I am; they only let juniors in Trig if they're smart enough."

"Let's just say I took short-cuts." She cheated. "I had to convince my parents that I'm 'doing' something in school." Now its about to blow up in her face and she wants me to rescue her. I want this to be over with.

"Alright, fine. I'll tutor you," I told her, giving up. Her face lit up when I said that. "Who's house are we going to? If we're going to your place I'll be over there later 'cause I have to go home and feed my bunny." I heard her gasp.

"You have a bunny?" That's right, girls like cute things don't they?

"Yeah, but I have to get home and feed her. She can be a bit of a bitch if I don't. she bit me when I was an hour late one time."

"I wanna see! I'm coming over your house! C'mon, my driver'll take us!"

"It's three blocks away," I said, pointed ahead of us. "I'm not going to rider in a car for three blocks." Talk about lazy….

"But it's freezing out here!"

"It wouldn't be freezing if you more a sweater and not a tank top under your coat. You can ride for three blocks if you want, I'm walking." She didn't say anything as she ran to her limo and got inside. Must be nice to be rich. And Spoiled.

Finally, some time to myself.

I never taught anyone before. Wait, yes I did. I tutored JoJo and Bandit plenty of times back in Duval when they were having trouble. This shouldn't be too hard, but I have my suspicions about this girl. What's she after? More than just a tutor, I bet.

Hmm…I have to convince Zack to leave us alone for a while. Ehh….I'll give him some candy.

It didn't even take me ten minutes to get home. Here she is, waiting at my doorstep like I'm in the wrong.

"Please don't look at me like that," I said unlocking the door. "I told you was only three blocks."

"You would've been here faster if you took the limo like I said," She said after we came inside.

"But I didn't, okay? We're here now," I told her as we went into my room. Right on time. "Here's my rabbit."

"You DO have one! Can I hold her?" She asked, taking off her coat. She kneeled down next to the cage and tried to take Duracell out, but Duracell was having none of it. Every time Ashley tried to pick her up, Duracell moved away from her. Good girl. "Why won't she let me hold her?"

"She doesn't know you yet. How would you like it if someone ran up to you and tried to touch you? Let me see," I sat down next to her and picked Duracell up and out of her cage. I sat her down on the floor and expected her to hop around, but she didn't. "Just give her time. Until she comes to you, I can tutor you, okay?" I had to pull Ashley's attention from Duracell and to her textbook. It started out good, helping her get the basics down. I had to convince her to write with a black ink pen. All her notes were written in bright pink ink that made it hard to read. I helped her with her homework too. It wasn't as hard as I thought I would be; she's a fast learner. Or so I thought.

She spent a lot of her time flirting with me. That's nice she feels the need to, but I'm trying to tutor her I have a job to do and I intend to do it. I kept denying her, but she kept at it. She was distracted when Duracell hopped on her lap, and took that chance to look through her notes. That's when I found something that told me I was right about suspecting behind her wanting me to help her.

I found her past homework, and it's not D's or F's like she has me thinking. She's getting A's and the occasional B's. She doesn't need my help. She's doing damn fine by herself.

"Ashley, what are these?" I asked her. She was busy petting Duracell when she looked over to the papers I was showing her.

"Oh, um….those are nothing," She said, stuttering. "I copied off some nerd in from of me in class, that's it."

"For ALL of these?"

"Yep." I gave her a look showing that I didn't believe her and she got the message. "…Okay fine, I didn't cheat. I did all that work."

"Then why are you here? You're doing fine without any help."

"You wouldn't, like, pay attention to me any other way," said Ashley A. "You act like you've never seen a girl before!"

"I've seen plenty of girls, Ashley A…" I said, thinking back to Veronica and her friends. I wonder if they got out on parole too. I think so… "What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone? You obviously came up with this whole 'tutoring' thing as an excuse to get my attention…now you have it."

"I want a date." She must be crazy.

"No."

"Why they hell not?"

"Please don't curse in front of my rabbit."

"You're still not giving me a reason!"

"Because I don't want to! Why are you so interested in me?" I asked her. This is getting ridiculous. "What do I have to offer you? Shouldn't you be dating the captain of the football or basketball team?"

"For your information I dated both, and they both were assholes. Can't a girl just ask for a date these days?" She asked, smiling.

"From me of all people? The guy everyone's running away from?"

"Yeah. Like, what's wrong with that?" Okay, whatever. I don't care anymore. I just want her to go away right now. I'm willing to say anything to get her to go home.

"Fine, I'll take you out on a date." She did a silent cheer. Bet she's happy. "One date, Ashley A. ONE. This Friday night. I can't take you out on Saturday or Sunday, I'm busy those days."

"Yes! See, I knew I'd convince you!"

"Uh-huh."

"So where are we going?"

"I'm not sure. I'll tell you in a couple of days. Are we done here? You don't need my help in Trig…."

"Yeah, I'm done," She said standing up. I stood up with her. As much as she's annoying the hell of me, I'm going to be as polite as I can stand. "I can't wait until Friday!"

"I know. C'mon, I'll walk you to the door." As I led her downstairs, the front down opened and Mom and Zack came through. Zack said he had something to tell me and I told him to go wait in my room. After Ashley left I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back upstairs and into my room where Zack was on the floor playing with Duracell.

"What's the big surprise Zack?" I asked, sitting on the floor.

"I told Valarie I liked her!" He said.

"Really? That's great. Did she like you back?"

"Uh-huh, then I asked her to be my girlfriend."

"Did she say yes?"

"She said she likes me too but that I gotta take her out on a date first." Oh God. "TJ, what's a date?" Kid, this is none of your concern. Go back to playing with your tinker toys and play-doh and leave this dating bullshit to the grown-ups.

That's my frustration speaking…..

"A date when you take someone you really like somewhere and the two of you have a fun together."

"Oh. I can do that! Want to take her roller skating!"

"Do you know how to roller skate, Zack?" He nodded.

"I got roller skates in my room." I didn't know three year olds can roller skates. Hell, some of them can't even walk on their own feet without falling. The whole hand-eye coordination balance development thing. "Daddy taught me. Do you know how?"

"Yes, but I haven't been in a long time. I might have forgotten how."

"TJ can you take us on our date?" First of all, he shouldn't worry over dating yet….he's three.

"I don't know Zack—"

"Please, please, please, please! I have to take her on a date!" He begged. "She's the love of my life!" Your life barely began, okay? Probably doesn't remember last year…. "Please, TJ?"

"Okay, I'll take the two of you out roller skating. I'll talk to her brother at school tomorrow about it." Where is he getting this from?

"Yay! Thank you!" He came over and hugged me. "I gotta date!" At what point should I be concerned about this? It's cute, yeah, but….you know….these are toddlers. I'm worrying too much. They'll forget about it soon enough.

I give it two weeks.

I give me and Ashley one day.

* * *

><p><strong>I have a job! It's part-time, but it's better than nothing. It won't interfere with update happening as often as they have been. This update happened later than I would've liked because of a writers block I'm experiencing. I'll try to have the next update around next Monday or Tuesday.<strong>

**Hiddenbehindthecurtains: Secrets, secrets! Maybe Ralphie did, maybe he didn't. Maybe TJ did light the fire is only denying it, or lit it without knowing he did. We just don't know. (I do, but I'm not giving any spoilers) You'll just have to wait and see. :D**

**Please Review!**


	61. That Movie was Awesome

**How is everyone? Doing good I hope.**

**I had fun with this chapter for the numerous references in it. One in particular is my favorite, and it'll be blatantly obvious to you all. Trust me.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I actually had a good time with Ashley A. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I'll even say it was fun enough to go on a second date._

_I think I might ask her out again._

_**~*~V~*~**_

_Dear Freckles,_

_I know of all people probably don't care about what the hell has been going on in Tommy Gun's life, but I thought I should let you know 'cause he did torture you._

_He was getting on my nerves. We go transferred to the same prison. He was giving me trouble and need to be put in his place. I told everyone why he was in jail in the first place. I said I wouldn't 'cause we used to be friends back in juvie way before you, Specs, or Bandit came along. But even convicts have their standards._

_I told everyone the reason he was sentenced. He guy's a pervert. A fucking sex offender. He raped his little four year old neighbor. People don't take that shit lightly in prison. Not even five seconds after I announced it, his ass was getting beat by everyone in reach. They had to get him taken to some other prison. You don't have to worry about him ever showing up. He had some mental issues too. I think he was a sociopath. _

_Anyway, I haven't heard back from the judge about the tape, but my lawyer said to give it some time. How much time? I'm trying to get out!_

_You better be looking out for your brother like I you said, Freckles. That the only job you have right now and you better do it right. But no pressure._

_When one of you guy get a car you all better come see me. Miss you guys._

_-JoJo_

Reading the letter he had received from JoJo, TJ chucked at the lines that were distinctively his best friend's. Not having talked directly to his friend for two weeks, the letters they were writing back in forth was the only contact they had. That little amount of contact reassured him that they were still a part of each other's lives. He folded the letter and put it back in his pocket. He didn't write back as soon as he read the letter, rather, he thought about what he wanted to say before doing so.

But now he knew what was Tommy Gun's problem. He was fucking crazy, that was it. Knowing this, TJ was more relieved that he was far away from him. There were times where just one look from him sent chills down his spine and was unsettling.

"Glad I don't have to deal with him anymore," He mumbled, paying half attention to the lecture in his Trigonometry class. Things were beginning to calm down, and he wasn't getting nearly as many stares as he had been when he had first arrived. He swapped the red contact lenses he wore the day before for a single blue lens for his blind eye to hide the discoloration of his iris from the blindness.

Sighing, he chose not to pay attention to the lecture in front of him. He thought back to the day before. After Ashley A. left, he was left with the burden of coming up with what to do with her. He had never taken a girl on a date (or cared to), partially due to being locked away with limited access to things to do. The closes thing he came to a date with anyone was sleeping with them for money.

'How about the movies? That's what people do for dates, right? Going to the movies?' He thought, pondering over ideas. 'Seems cheap. We wouldn't be talking to each other. What am I saying? I don't want to talk to her more than I have to. Maybe one of the girls have an idea….' Not only was he's stuck with the task of coming up with his own date, he had to schedule Zack's 'date' as well. He wanted to force his little brother to focus on his bucket of Lego's, coloring, playing tag, and making mud pies, and not on 'dating,' but thought that it would better to let this phase run its course.

**~*~V~*~**

When lunch came, TJ waited outside of the lunch from, looking for Vince. His brother was trying to go out with his sister, and he was in charge of orchestrating the event. The fastest was to do so would to be to talk it over with Vince and to come up with something. That was about to be put on hold when someone wrapped their arm around his. He turned to see who it was who grabed him and saw that it was Ashley A.

"Yes, Ashley?" He asked, not sure to whether to be tired of her persistence, or just her presence. "What is it?"

"Have you figured out what we're doing on Friday night?" She asked, smiling and batting her eyelashes.

"No not yet," TJ said, spotting Vince and the others going into the lunchroom. "Can you hold on for a minute? Can you hold on for a minute? I have to take care of something." He saw the questioning look on her face. "I'll sit with you when I get back, okay? Relax." She slowly eased her grip until she no longer was holding onto him. TJ gave her one more reassuring look before going after the others. After he caught up with Vince he tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"My brother wants to go on a date with your sister," TJ said.

"Yeah I heard. She wouldn't shut-up about it all day yesterday," Said Vince. "What's with this whole thing? Shouldn't they be playing tag?"

"That's what I said. But they're only little kids. Zack wants to take her roller skating. Can your sister roller skate?"

"Oh yeah. She knows how to roller skate faster than any toddler I know. Just like her big brother," He said with a proud smile. "Are you taking them?"

"Looks like it. Listen, Zack wants to act all grown-up and call her to make the date. Are you going to be home at 6?"

"No, but I'll be home by 7."

"Okay, I'm going to call around that time to let Zack talk to her. Make sure you're close to a phone. This is sort of a big deal to them."

"Got it." TJ left just as he spotted Ralphie approaching. He went back over to Ashley who was already sitting at a table waiting for him. "I said I would tell you when I come up with something." He said sitting down. "How about a movie?"

"A movie? That's it?"

"I don't think you're in the right to complain….Don't you want to go to see that one movie that all the girls are crazy about? What's it called? Twilight I think. I pasted you in the hallway talking about it with your friends."

"Ugh. Can you keep a secret?" She asked. He nodded. "I can't stand Twilight. I thought it was okay at first, but Bella is like, totally fake. I act like I like it in front of my friends 'cause if I don't, I wouldn't fit in. And besides, Edward is a complete freak. Who watches people when they sleep?"

"Heh. I guess so. So is there any movie that you DO want to see?"

"Hmm….oh! I know! Toy Story 3."

"….Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief. "I mean, if you want to, I'll take you, but why?"

"I always loved the series. I hear that this one is really good."

'If she's so rich then why hasn't she seen it yet?' TJ thought. "Okay, that's what we'll do. I'll take you to the movies. To let you know, I don't have a car. I don't even have a driver's license. I don't mean to sound rude or imposing, but can we use your driver?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Whatever. Do you have a cellphone?"

"Yeah."

"Then let me give you my phone number." TJ took out his cellphone, a device that he found to be needlessly complicated and added Ashley A's phone number to his contacts. For the rest of lunch, he sat with her, listening to Ashley A. talk about one thing or another. His attention dipped in an out as she talked, not wanting to get too involved.

**~*~V~*~**

"Are you ready, Zack?"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Call her! Call her!"

As he dialed the phone, TJ watched his little brother bounce happily in his seat next to him. It was obvious by the ear to ear smile on his face that he was anxious to ask his friend out on a 'date.' Put the phone to his ear, TJ waited as it rang until it was picked up on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hey Vince. It's me, TJ. I'm calling about what we talked about earlier."

"Right…hold on." TJ could hear in the background Vince calling for his little sister.

"Okay, she's coming, Zack. Just listen on the phone," he said, handing the phone to his brother. For the first time since he had gotten home, Zack at still as he held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?...Hi Valarie! What'sha doing?...'kay. I want to ask you a question…Do you want to go on a date with me on Friday?...Roller Skating…..Really? Thank you!...'kay, see tomorrow a daycare…..bye-bye." Zack handed him he phone.

"How'd it go?"

"I got a date! She said yes!" He cheered. "I got to go pick out what I wearing!" Getting off the bed Zack went into his own room. Closing his phone, TJ lay in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't halfway through the week and his weekend was already booked. On Friday he had to take Zack on his little date. Then on Saturday he was taking Duracell to the vet, going to the doctor himself, and lastly the eye doctor. He didn't get a break on Sunday either, because he promised to help his former principal clean out his attic.

And Ashley and their 'date.'

On Friday.

Friday….Friday….

"Shit! I'm supposed to take Zack on Friday!" He yelled, realizing the time conflict. There was no way he could do both, unless…. "I don't know how willing Ashley would be to go on a double date…especially with toddlers…" He grabbed his phone, found Ashley's phone number and sent her a text.

TJ: Hey Ashley A. do mind going on a double date instead?

Ashley A.: With who?

TJ: My little brother and his friend. They won't be much trouble. I'll take you roller skating too

Ashley A: I haven't been roller skating in forever! Yeah I'll go on a double date

"Hey Zack," TJ called for his little brother.

"Huh?" Zack asked as he came back in his room.

"How would you like to go to the movies as a part of your date with Valarie?"

"Can we see Toy Story 3?"

"That's perfect. We'll go see it right after we go roller skating."

**~*~V~*~**

"Wow, Zack! You got me a limo!"

TJ watched as the small couple run towards the parked limo in front of his house. It was Friday, and his date was starting to begin. Ashley A. had stepped out of the back just in time to move as Zack and Valarie to get in and make themselves comfortable.

"Thanks for understanding me bringing them along," Said TJ. "I didn't know that I said I would take them and you out on the same night. They'll be too busy paying attention to each other to bother us much."

"Aren't they a little too young to be dating?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it'll wear off," He said. "It's nothing."

**~*~V~*~**

"Since you've been out here and involved in his whole social media longer than I have, can you tell me what this _Facebook_ thing is all about?"

"Oh my God! Facebook is like, the greatest thing ever! You get on it, and you make all these friends and you can, like, see their statue and updates and pictures and everything! You can even find your friends from like, forever ago!" Listening to Ashley ramble on and on about the wonders of _Facebook_, TJ did know whether to take her seriously or not. The two little kids were out roller skating, while they sat at one of the nearby tables. He took this opportunity with the more popular girl to work out the wonders of the internet that he had not had the exposure to in the last few years. He could believe how much the internet ad changed in the last few years, but he was trying to catch up on everything, starting with _Facebook._ Even if he decided that it was useless for him (and everyone else) he still wanted to see what everyone was fawning over.

"And you have it on your phone too, so you can like, update where ever you are!"

"But why would you want to? Wouldn't you be too busy enjoying yourself in what your trying to tell other people about to get on it?"

"When you have a Facebook you find a way," Said Ashley A., showing him her phone.

"I just don't see the big deal about it. Isn't having your friends phone number enough?"

"Not anymore. If you had one, you'd know what I'm talking about."

"No thanks. I think I'll stay any from that sort of thing. It seems like one big giant fad to me."

"Fad's don't last for this long! Do you know anything about the internet?"

"I'm not completely illiterate of the internet, Ashley. I know about it," He said, peeking over at his little brother. "Give me a break, I have four years to catch up on. I even found this one website. It has all these stories that people had written about books and movies and shows. I found this one story that I really like. It's about this kid who was nice and sweet before but then he went batshit insane and set his school on fire. It's long as hell, but it's good. I hope it gets updated soon; I want to know how it ends. But enough about that…what do you do for fun? I think that's the sort of thing you're supposed to talk about on these dates."

"I'm head cheerleader. Rightfully so, I might add. I have to maintain the social status quo. I enjoy it too, but it has another purpose than to like make me happy. As you may already have noticed, I'm the most popular girl in school—"

"Then shouldn't you be dating the most popular boy to keep that status quo?" TJ asked her. "Sorry…continue…."

"And I'm like, totally into fashion. After I get done with this whole college business, I'm going straight to the top. I'm going to be more famous than CoCo Chanel! I have this sketchbook in my room filed with designs I have. Most of it looks better than what you find in a store. I'd make it if I had the time between being popular and all."

"Being popular, you know everyone in our school, right?"

"Yep, it's part of the job."

"What do you know about this Ralphie guy?"

"Ralphie? I dunno, he came to Third Street almost as soon as you left and went to juvie. Your old friends because friends with him like that," She paused to snapped her fingers. "Most of us thought he was creepy because he looks SO much like you. None of us would go near him and first, but we all warmed up to him after a while. Me and him dated for a month or two our freshman year. It shouldn't have lasted that long. He's got a bigger ego than Vince and Lawson put together. He thought he was a hotshot because he was dating me. That warranted a break-up in public in front of everyone to bruise his little ego. And then he had the nerve to ask on of my friends out. Like he had the chance! Us girls stick together and he was promptly rejected in front of everyone.

"I pride myself in being able to read people easily, 'cause you know, I HAVE to be able to in my social standing, and there is something off about that guy. I don't know if anyone else can feel it, but I can. I can't put my finger on it, but there isn't something right with him. And don't you think it's weird that this guy, looking like you of all people, comes to town right after you leave? I don't trust that. That didn't stop me from dating him, but I kept it in the back of my mind."

"Damn, that's a lot. If it makes you feel better, I think there's something off with him too, so you're not alone," TJ said. "You've surprised me Ashley."

"How?"

"I thought that you and your friends would only aspire to marry rich men to leech off of, but you're not. You're trying to do your own thing. You surprised me with your independence."

"Thanks for holding me with such high regards," She said sarcastically.

"No, no, it's not like that! The only opinion I have of you is base of what I knew _years_ ago. I didn't know if you have changed between then and now. I didn't mean to offend you."

"TJ!" He looked up to see Zack and Valarie skating over to them. "Can we go to the movies now?" TJ looked at his phone to check the time.

"Thanks for reminding me, Zack. The movie starts in ten minutes. We have to go."

**~*~V~*~**

'This is the most depressing movie I have ever seen,' TJ thought as he sat in his seat and watched the movie in front of him. Ashley A. sat next to him on the left and they were sharing a bucket of popcorn, while Zack and Valarie were on his right and were small enough to share a seat. He watched as the movie continued and the toys were soon to be burned in the incinerator. The movie was scary enough to make them all jump when Big Baby turn its head as the toys tried to escape, dramatic enough to almost make him scream at the screen when they were mistakenly thrown in the garbage, and now it was threatening to bring tears to his eyes. 'Pixar is getting dark these days.'

He sat back in his seat and braced himself for the upcoming death of toys as Ashley A. held onto his arm. He tried to enjoy the first movie he'd seen in ages, but it was getting harder as it progressed.

Meanwhile, his brother and his date were watching it without a problem.

Once the movie ended, he and the others left the theatre. While the two toddlers were happily holding hands, the two teenagers were wiping tears from their eyes.

"It's so sad. I'm happy they got new owners, but it's still so sad! I wanted Andy to still be there!" Ashley A. cried as they all rode home.

"It's okay, it's just a movie," TJ said, trying to reassure her. "it's better than being at the daycare with those kids that didn't play with them right."

"I don't play with my toys like that!" Zack protested.

"Me neither!" Said Valarie.

"Good, because toys have feelings too," Said TJ. "Ashley, please stop crying, it has a happy ending."

"More like bitter-sweet," She said. "It's still a better love story than Twilight."

The rest of the car ride was filled with TJ trying to get Ashley A out of her slump about the ending of the movie. It only worked once they arrived at his house. The door to the limo opened and Zack and Valarie ran out and to the front door. TJ stepped out and turned back to Ashley A.

"You had fun with me didn't you?" She asked teasingly.

"I hate to admit it, but yeah. I had fun. It was better than I expected."

"Fun enough for a second date?"

"…..Hmmm..Maybe. I'll call you this time, okay?"

"You better. I'll be waiting for a phone call."

"No problem," He said. "I'll see you later." The window of the lime rolled up and the car rolled away. He walked back to his house and went inside.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm going to end it here. Anymore and I'd feel like I'm rambling on.<strong>

**I have a story to tell! Today was my first day of work, and I have my own little cubicle. And the guy across from me just so happened by some extremly strange circumstance has the name Theodore Detweiler. I'm serious. I triple checked his name plate outside his cubicle and was like =D the rest of the day. But yeah. Strange.**

**Donna Nnov: I have a nephew, and I got the idea for Zack's whole involvement in dating from his behavior. He had a girlfriend and everything. They even got 'married.' :3 It was so cute. But I only lasted about a month before they forgot all about it. Kids copy what they see, so they're just trying to be like their parents, I suppose.**

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	62. Creature of Habit

**Not even a week and work is getting on my nerves. I feel so lazy. I better suck it up. It's just me getting used to things. Everyone there is so nice, it's awkward.**

**In other news, I saw a rabbit today on my way to work! I hear that they are EVERYWHERE around that building. I need to keep a look out for more. **

**Read on!**

* * *

><p>As the days turned into weeks then into months, TJ settled into a weekly routine that he was comfortable with. Monday to Thursday he focused on school, Saturday he would watch Zack and Valarie when they came over his house, along with Valarie's bunnies, and on Sundays he would go over to Prickly's house to either help him out around his house or to just talk. Friday's however where different.<p>

Every other Friday he found himself being with Ashley A., whether it was at a date he had with her, or at one of their houses. It was something that he didn't plan to do at first, but after their first date forced on him, he found himself asking her not on another date, but to just hang-out together. He had to admit that she wasn't what he expected her to be, and that if he was going to ask for another chance, then he could do the same for others.

After talking with her for a while, he saw that she just wasn't one of for clones. She was a completely smart individual, capable of free will without the approval of her group. What he didn't get was why she didn't act like it at school. He didn't see the part of her that he saw glimpses of alone. She acted as only and extension of her friends, and nowhere near as smart as she truly was. It annoyed him, but he decided to bring it up at another time.

The girl was stubborn, in every form of the word.

As his social life unknowingly developed more than he would have liked, TJ had to balance that with what he HAD to do before he could relax. Numerous doctor and dentist appointments took up much of his times during the weekend as well. Along with all the things he did miss while being in Duval, he did not miss the dentist office. It was necessary for him to eat comfortably without feeling as if someone was taking a jackhammer to his teeth, but it hurt while he was there. Adding on to the pain was his wisdom teeth, which needed to come out as soon as possible. They were beginning to rot, and if they were allowed to fully come in, it would damage the teeth in front of them. Because of the time it would take to recover, he was going in during spring break to have them taken out.

Those problems were minor compared to his blind eye. The first infection cleared without a hitch, but it was only his first. Every time he was given the all clear from the eye doctor, it didn't take long for his eye to become infected again. He blamed it on the contacts he was wearing, but he stopped wearing them and replaced them with JoJo's shades. Even still, his ye was repeatedly infected. It was constantly giving him trouble and it didn't seem like it was going to stop.

Even with his own health issues, TJ was concerned with the health of his rabbit. Taking the money he needed to take Duracell to the vet was not a problem for him. The trip to the vet had gone better than he expected.

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

"How is she?" TJ asked. He sat in the corner of the room while the vet examined Duracell on the table in the middle of the room.

"You said you found her outside, yes?" The vet asked, examining Duracell's ears.

"Yeah. _She _found me, actually. I was minding my own business when she started digging in my pocket. She followed me inside and wouldn't leave me alone."

"She looks healthy, especially being a feral rabbit. No sign of ear mites, or rabies...her teeth are a little longer than I would like them to be, but that can be solved by giving her something to chew on, but her nails are a good length," said the vet as he set Duracell on a scale. "She's a few ounces underweight, but I wouldn't worry TOO much about that. Most rabbits that I see are overweight, and you did say you let her out for exercise. What are you feeding her?"

"Just timothy hay."

"Make sure she has a constant supply of it. Eating that will keep her teeth at a good length. But besides that, she's much healthier than I would expect a feral rabbit to be. Much tamer too. You must be taking good care of her."

"Do you have any idea how old she is? I had her for a year and a half already."

"A year and a half? Hmm. I would estimate that she's between two and three years old. Mini Lops can live between eight and fourteen years. If you take extremely good care of her, she can live up to eighteen years." The vet paused to grab a book off the shelf and hand it to him. "This book will tell you all you need to know about rabbits. What they eat, how they act, what's normal, what's not, and proper care. I also want you to have her spayed. Her behavior can change drastically from seemingly out of nowhere if you don't. We don't do it here, but at another facility. I would have it done rather sooner than later. Also, to help her gain those last few ounces, I would add small amounts of fruit to her diet, but not much."

"So she's in good health?"

"She's in wonderful health. Just make sure to read that book to keep it up."

**~*~END FLASHBACK~*~**

TJ had honestly expected Duracell to have some sort of illness. He didn't know much about taking care of rabbits in the first place so learning that his rabbit was in perfect health was a surprise. In his spare time he read the book he received from the vet and even taught Duracell a few tricks and to ring a bell in her cage when she was hungry, though there was more than one occasion when he was woken up in the middle of the night by Duracell ringing her bell.

Though he had asked him friends for forgiveness, he didn't add them as a major part of his life. He talked to them when they did and sat with them at lunch whenever they came over, but outside of school he didn't socialize with them at all. And he had no problem with it. They had been his very best friends in elementary school, but they weren't the same to him now. There was no longer much of a reason to be around them unless he wanted to gain a social life, of which he was doing more than he would like by dating Ashley A.

But tonight was going to be different.

At lunch, Spinelli and the others choose to eat with him again. A conversation had started, but TJ was barely paying attention. When it came to listening to them, he had a bad habit of drowning their voices out. He remembered hearing "come over you're house later," and "never spending time together," but nothing else. Now, he was playing with Zack until they came over.

"TJ guess what?" Zack asked him as they played with the large bucket of Lego's in his room.

"What?"

"I got a girlfriend! Valarie's my girlfriend now!"

"That's wonderful, Zack. When did this happen?"

"Yesterday. She said I'd make a good boyfriend because I'm nice to her."

"Good, and you should keeping being nice to her." The ring of the doorbell cut their conversation short. "Stay right here Zack, I'll be right back." He stood from where he was sitting and walked downstairs. Opening the door he was met with his old friends, along with Valarie on Vince's shoulders and Ralphie behind him. He didn't exactly want any of them there at the moment, and definitely didn't want Ralphie at his house. He got on his nerves at school, and this was unacceptable.

"What's _he_ doing here?" TJ asked, pointing to Ralphie behind them.

"He wanted to come, too," said Mikey. TJ stared at Ralphie for a few seconds before turning and letting them all inside. Valarie ran past his and up the stairs towards Zack's room.

"Do you all mind telling me why you're over here? I wasn't paying attention earlier."

"We asked if we could come over here later and you said okay." The sound of a bell could be heard as they went upstairs.

"That's my rabbit," TJ mumbled, opening his door. There was much more room inside now that most of the boxes that were there when he first arrived home was either emptied or in his closet. The only box left was the one he brought home from Duval. "What is it exactly that you all want to do?" He asked holding Duracell. "I didn't know if I was supposed to come up with something, so I didn't."

"We were going to watch the horror monster movie marathon on TV. They're going to show the best horror movies ever made," Said Gus. "We thought you'd want to watch with us, because God knows how long you've seen a movie."

"I've seen movies. I've seen lots of movies over Ashley A's house. I took her to see a few too."

"Ugh. How could you stand to be around that _powderpuff_?" Spinelli asked in disgust.

"Because we're dating. I'm staying out of whatever goes on between you too. You handle that. I'm minding my own business until someone gets hurt. We can watch the movies in the basement if you want. It's dark. Helps that whole 'horror' feel, I think. When does it start?" He sat Duracell on the floor, and she promptly jumped on Vince's shoe and chewed on the laces.

"I think your rabbit likes my shoes," Said Vince. "She has good taste. The marathon doesn't start for another hour. We can wait up here if you, you know, don't mind." they all stayed in his room, waiting for the hour to pass until the horror monster movie marathon started. The room was filled with an awkward silence except from the sound for playing coming from Zack's room, and the hops Duracell made from person to person. TJ couldn't help but to laugh when Duracell bit Ralphie when he tried to pet her.

"You and me are going to be in-laws by the looks of it," He told Vince. "It's been three months and they still have crush on each other. Just to let you know, it's customary that the bride's family pay for the wedding."

"Isn't it a little early be thinking about their wedding? They're only three."

"Yeah, but you've seen them together." He looked over the where Ralphie had finally managed to pet Duracell without her attacking him. That didn't last for long, because a few seconds later, he was bit, hard.

"Dude, what's with your rabbit?" Ralphie asked him.

"She doesn't like you. She's picky about the people she likes."

"TJ can you help me with something?" Zack asked coming in the room.

"I'll be right back," He said leaving the room with his brother.

"Gus, what are you doing?" Gretchen asked him. Gus was busy flipping through several pages of a black notebook with duct tape at the sides.

"I'm reading," Said Gus. "His journal, by the way it looks."

"Put that down! Do you have any idea what'll happen if he sees you reading that? He tried to choke me when I did," Spinelli told him.

"He saw me reading it. I was reading it before he left. Didn't seem like he minded to me," Gus said, reading a few lines.

"Can one of you get this rabbit away from me?" Ralphie asked. He was trying to get away from Duracell who was deliberately approaching him and biting him. "It's got rabies or something!"

"It doesn't have rabies," Said Mikey, picking up the animal. "She just doesn't like you yet. Give her time."

"You can take it home if you want, Gus," "That's my old journal, but I want it back on Monday. Can we go watch those movies now? The kids are busy painting and won't bother us now."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I'm not a big fan of horror movies. Psychological thrillers, yes, but horror? No so much. I like the classic horror movies more than the recent ones. One's like _Halloween_, that was a good movie. It's actually the one on TV right now. The darkness in the basement helps add to the whole 'a fucking psychopath is after you, don't look back just run,' feel.

Is that how everyone felt about me? I can see it.

The movie is good in the sense that I'm not jumping when a 'scary' scene comes on. Everyone else is. I'm laughing instead. It's funny as hell, you know, when you're not scared.

Don't look at me like that guys. It's funny, damn. And I told you all I had psychopathic tendencies. It wasn't my idea to watch these movies.

I'm texting Bandit and Specs through the movie. We're trying to find out what's going on with JoJo. He hasn't written back to any of us in over a month. We're worried because we would normal write two letters back and forth in a week. I hope nothing has happened to him. Prison can be brutal. I know JoJo's strong, but people in prison can be stronger, right? Yeah. Someone could've beaten the shit out of him. I'm not sure if he's dead or alive.

Don't think like that. I don't want to entertain the idea that he's not alive. He's my best friend; I don't know what I would do if he was gone.

…

I got a message from Ashley. She asked if I wanted to come over her house later. Mmm….no thanks. I don't feel like leaving the house today.

I don't trust Ralphie. I don't. I've been keeping an eye on him since he came in my house. I love that Duracell keeps biting him. I didn't train her to do that, but I'm glad she does. Maybe she thinks he's creepy too. Or is trying to defend me.

Such a loyal rabbit. Couldn't ask for a better pet.

He has a disturbing smile on him. It looks fine to these guys, but not to me. If I'm ever left alone with him I'll hurt him. I don't know why but I would. Better not approach me in school by himself. I could go back to jail for attempted murder. I only felt this strongly about one other person and that was Tommy Gun, the perv. I definitely don't like how he looks like me if I didn't bleach my hair. I'm surprised no one asked me why I_ keep_ bleaching it. If I ever choose not to bleach it anymore, I would look like him. I would hate that. first of all, he would look like me, not the other way around. I'm the original. He's a cheap rip-off, let's get that straight right now.

….

I have an idea! Why didn't I think about this before? I should ask that little snitch Randall if he has any dirt on this guy. He should.

I'm an idiot for not thinking of that in the first place.

Okay. Now I can enjoy the movie.

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><p><strong>For all the readers putting this story on alert, thank you for having the patience to read this story. If I saw a 200K-plus monster that is this story, I would not have the patience to read through it, and for that I have respect for you all.<strong>

**Also, for any of you who may have not found the destruction of the fourth wall in the last chapter, while Ashley A. and TJ were out on their forced date, TJ described something he found on the internet, which was _this_ story. :D I'm loving these reference's I'm making to the show itself in this story. **

**Please review!**


	63. Too Good to Be True

**I'm beginning to break out of this writer block I've been having. If it seems like the updates for this story has been farther apart for the last few chapters, it has. That's all me, because writers block sucks. It's almost over though, and we can make progress in this story. Beginning now.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_This isn't working out like I planned. I was hoping to get some dirt, but I have the opposite. Squeaky cleanliness._

_It's disgusting._

_~*~V~*~_

Pulling back his hair, TJ looked at the mirror in front of him. The unbleached chestnut brown was starting to grow back in. He couldn't take care of it at the moment; he was getting ready for school. For now, he would have to either wear a hat for the day, or to go to school not caring if anyone saw. Though he wanted to avoid resembling Ralphie in any way, shape, or form, he was considering not bleaching his hair again.

'It's starting to break off,' He thought, running his fingers through his hair and looking at the strains that were falling off his head. 'And I don't want to be bald….' Feeling a tug at his jeans, he turned from the mirror in front of him and looked towards the ground where he saw Zack, in his pajamas and crying.

"What's the matter, Zack?" He asked, kneeling down to his brother. Being closer to him, he could see that the bottom of his pajama pants were wet.

"I wet the bed," Zack said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, you're not in trouble," Said TJ. "It was an accident. You didn't mean to do it. Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He went in Zack's room and changed the sheets on his bed. Seeing that he had enough time before he had to leave for school, he gave Zack a quick bath and put him in clean clothes. His brother followed him into his room and climbed into his bed. Since he was no longer crying, TJ didn't tell him to go back to his own bed.

"I have to go to school now Zack. Don't forget to tell mom and dad what happened, okay? You're not going to get in trouble." Zack nodded as he began to fall asleep. Leaving, TJ kept the door open so that when his parents came looking for Zack, they would see him in his bed.

**~*~V~*~**

"I should stop smoking," TJ mumbled under his breath as he sat on the steps of the high school. "Cigarettes are expensive as hell outside of Duval." Watching the smoking disappear, he listened to the other students who were outside talking. He drowned most of their voices out to try and listen out for one in particular that he wasn't sure there at all. If it wasn't, he knew that he could find it later, but would rather find it now. He rubbed his eye, trying to scratch the itch he felt on it. It was, for the sixth time, infected again. He wore JoJo's shades to hide it from everyone.

He tossed the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. He was going to head inside when he saw Gus walking up to him with his journal in hand.

"You said you wanted this back today," Gus said, handing him his journal.

"Thanks," TJ said, turning away and heading inside.

"Did….did you really try to kill yourself like it says in there?" Gus asked, following him into the school.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I did."

"….What was that like?"

"Why? _You're _not trying to do anything stupid, are you?"

"No, no. Of course not. I just never knew anyone who had tried before."

"Mmm. If you must know Gus, it felt like going to sleep. Before that, it was like I was flying. Didn't I right that in there? I'm sure I did."

"I might've skipped over it. I was skimming through it most of the time."

"Oh. Well, that's what it felt like. I don't remember much after that. I woke up in the hospital, like I said when I told you all. I wouldn't do it again," He said, stopping at the end of the hallway.

"Some of the stuff in there was disturbing—"

"If you think that's disturbing then you don't want to read the other four journals. Gus, I have to go do something important. Can we finish this conversation later at lunch or after school?"

"Sure. I'll see you in class." TJ watched him walk away before turning his attention to the trashcan next to him. He listened, making sure that a sound he heard wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. When the sound came and went two more times, he turned to the trashcan. He lifted the top off and reached through the trash and pulled out the source of the noise.

"Randall, just the person I was looking for," TJ said as he took him out of the trashcan. "It must stink in that trashcan."

"You get used to it. Being a snitch an all," Randall said. "You're not going to hurt me are you?"

"For the last time, no. I need something and you're the only person who can give it to me."

"What is it?" The bell signaling the beginning of first period rang.

"I hope you know we're skipping first period for this."

~*~V~*~

"Tell me what you know about this Ralphie guy." When the hall were clear of any other students, TJ had to drag Randall outside to talk to him. It took some force doing so, since Randall was trying to pull away while attempting on convince him to have the conversation at another time (or never). Skipping first period was a bad thing, he argued. TJ however, brushed it off, and continued to walk outside, dragging him along the way.

"Is that what you dragged me out here for? Dirt on Ralphie?"

"Yep."

"And if I don't tell you anything, you'll cause severe bodily harm?" TJ nodded. "Right. Okay what do you want to know?"

"Everything. There's something off about him and I want to know what it is!"

"I agree with you on that one. He's a strange one. But I have nothing on him," Randall told him. "I looked up and down for anything on him, but nothing. Nothing on his record, never gotten in trouble at school, nothing that would ruin his reputation, nothing."

"NOTHING? What do you mean _nothing_? This asshole came over MY house last Friday," TJ screamed at him. "I know you know something about him! You're holding out on me Weems! Don't forget I can kill you!" He made a fist and loamed over the shorter and weaker male, making him hold his hands up and back away in a meager defense. Seeing the fear in his eyes, TJ uncurled his fists ad took a few steps back. The same thing that had stopped him from harming Spinelli while in juvie was stopping him from hurting the snitch in front of him.

"Sorry. I'm sorry, okay? Didn't mean to scare you," He said. "You can get off the ground now."

"How do I know this isn't some sort of trick to get my guard down?" Randall asked, looking up from his position on the ground.

"Fine. Don't believe me," he said, sitting on the steps. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and began to smoke hours before he usually did. He would wait between five and eight hours before smoking (unless he was sleeping or around Zack), but he time seemed right at the moment. Closing his eyes, he listened as he heard footsteps approach from behind. Looking over he saw Randall sitting down next to him. "You smoke?" He asked, offering him a cigarette.

"Yeah," Said Randall, taking one. "Thanks."

"Are you telling me the truth when you say you have no dirt on this guy? I was kind of depending on you having something."

"I'm telling you the truth. I've got nothing, which made me look harder coincidently," He said. "He's a goody-two-shoes. Not a spot on his record. THAT's more suspicious than anything! He's hiding something, I know it. NO ONE has record THAT clean. Even Grundler has something on her record for the things she used to do with all of you back in elementary school. He gets on my nerves for this just as much as he's getting on yours."

"I got a headache….."

"But I can tell you something about Ashley A. I hear the two of you are dating."

"Nothing gets past you, does it Weems? What do you have? Anything that'll tell me why she wanted to date me in the first place?"

"I heard her and her friends thinking of having one of them try to go out with you for protection."

"Protection?"

"They think that if one of them is dating you, then when you go on a rampage to kill everyone, you wouldn't kill them because you dated," Randall explained. "These are their words, not mine."

"Hmm. That's a shame. I was actually starting to like her. Now I have to break up with her after all that money I spent on those dates." The bell rang from inside the school and they both could hear the sound of the other students coming out of first period class. "It was nice talking to you, Randall." He said, making his way back inside.

"Hey, if I find out anything about Ralphie, I'll let you know," Randall called after him.

"Thanks."

~*~TJ's POV~*~

"I think you and me got off on the wrong foot a couple days ago. I know we only talk when we have to, but since we're both in the same group, we should be able to get along and we won't be able to if we barely say two words to each other. Can we sit together and talk during lunch?"

Who the hell does this guy think he is? He randomly comes up to me and asks to _talk_ to me? Who _are_ you? I took five steps in the lunch room and Ralphie approaches me and starts spouting out this bullshit about getting along and _talking_ (UGH) like he _knows_ me.

What am I saying? I can get some information about this guy. But I'm not going to let him know anything about me. That can't happen. There's a shit load of things I DIDN'T tell them. Like Alex, and that inmate I killed…and other things.

"Alright, we can talk," I said. He smiled (Creepy-ass smile), and I followed him to a table. "Do the others know about this?"

"I said that I was going to try and talk to you, but I didn't say about what," He said, sitting down. "I asked them to give us some time by ourselves."

"Good, 'cause I'm not in the best mood." And it's your fault. "Tell me about yourself. As far as I know, you didn't exist until a few months ago."

"Heh-heh. I moved here towards the end of eighth grade. From what I hear, it was close to when you were sent to Duval. Is that what the place you were called? Duval?" I nodded. "People here avoided me because according to them, I looked like you. I don't see it. Do you?"

"If my hair wasn't bleached, _maybe._ I doubt it."

"The guys talked to be first and we became friends. We had fun together." I bet. He' smiling through this. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

"Doing drugs, defending my friends, prostituting, taking care of my rabbit. The usual stuff." Usual for me, anyways. HA! That little smile he has going on faltered for a second. "What do you do for fun?"

"I volunteer down at the senior center sometimes, but most of the time I help at the animal shelter on the edge of town." Are you fucking kidding me? "I like helping others, so it's not work. It's fun. A couple times a month I go down to the library and read to the little kids."

….

Goody-fucking-two-shoes. Randall was right.

I listened to him go on and on about what he does with his time, volunteering and helping people. I don't buy it. Not for one second. I understand that there are good people like that, and I respect them for doing good and helping their community, but not him. Not him. I don't believe it. Just nod my head as he says this crap. He wants to make a good impression, that's it.

Okay. Time to put on a mask and pretend that I believe him.

"That's amazing. I don't know a lot of people who do even a little of all that," I said. It's taking all my willpower to not laugh at this lie. "I haven't even come up with a hobby yet."

"You should come with me," he offered. "You might like it."

"No thanks. I'm still getting used to 'normal' life. Whatever the hell that is," I said, getting out of my seat. "I have somewhere to be, so I hope you got what you wanted out of this conversation." I walked away from the table, not listening to anything else he was going to say. I checked my phone I saw I had a text from my mom asking me to pick Zack up from daycare. I don't have to take him to tumbling class; a pipe burst and class won't be held for another week or two. Good. I have to go buy Duracell food at the pet store.

"I'll talk to you later," I told Ashley A. after she came up to me. I'll confront her tomorrow or the weekend. My mind is focused on Mr. Wholesome.

~*~V~*~

"What'd you learn in school today, Zack?" I asked as we walked down the sidewalk. His hair was up in pigtails. The girls must've done that. He seems fine with it, so I didn't make him take them out. We're on our way to the pet store.

"I learned how to play tag," Zack said. "And then teach read us a story."

"What was it about?"

"It was about a boy who had a tree that gave him everything he needed. It was by Dr. Susan."

"I think you mean Dr. Seuss."

"Yeah that's him," He said. "I didn't like that story. I like The Cat in the Hat."

"I like that one too. Do you have it at home?" He nodded. "Then I'll read it to you before bed, okay?"

"'Kay!" when we reached the pet store we went inside. As soon as I opened the door I could smell the animals inside. We walked towards the back were all the food and supplies for small animals were.

'Alright, which one of these does Duracell eat?' I asked myself, looking through the different sorts of hay. Duracell's a picky eater. She won't eat certain fruits or hay.

Sounds spoiled once I think about it. I spoil her. Anyone would with that chubby face she has.

I found the type she likes to eat and got the biggest bag I could find. This has to last me a while.

"TJ! TJ!" Zack said running over to me. I didn't notice that he walked away. "Come look at all the bunnies!" I followed him over to a pin and looked to what he was pointing to.

There must be twenty bunnies in there, hopping around. Eating, drinking and playing.

I couldn't stop the smile growing on my face even if I wanted to. Damn they're cute. After looking for a few more seconds, they all hopped over to the edge I was standing by. Goddamn. These things are born to be cute, I swear.

What do you all want from me? It's like when I first got Duracell all over again.

"TJ can we have one?" Zack asked me.

"I'm sorry Zack, but we can't. We already have a bunny." And if I took one, I would have to take ALL of them. I'd feel guilty for separating one from the group. Just look at their little furry faces and fat chubby cheeks! It's so sweet I can feel my teeth rot.

"But we can get her a friend!"

"She already has two friends. Valarie's bunnies, Ice Cream and Cake." He pouted and folded his arms. "C'mon, we have to get home to feed her." As I paid for the food, Zack stopped pouting. He was eyeing the candy now. "Want some?"

"Can I?"

"Sure. But one thing only." He wasted no time picking a pack of RingPops off the shelf and handing them to me. They still make these? Have to snatch me one when he's not looking. Once I paid for everything, we left and headed home. I have enough rabbits there.

I got a text from Ashley.

**Ashley A.: Wat was with u today?**

**What do you mean?**

**Ashley A.: U act like u didn't want 2 b near me**

**Oh that. I was busy, sorry. I'll come over to your house tomorrow and make up for it, ok?**

**Ashley A.: u better**

She has some nerve demanding I pay attention to her. She's only with me for her own benefit. I'll take care her tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Okay, this story was going to be updated days ago (last Wednesday to be exact), but it couldn't be done for two reasons. One, a major power outage meant no access to the internet, and two, an agonizingly painful toothache caused by wisdom teeth. Now I know where my first paycheck is going towards.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	64. To Hell With It

**Hi-ha folks! I hope you all are doing well.**

**This chapter takes place on the following day, to keep you all from confusing it with the weekend. This chapter is shorter than what I would like it to be, but I go in what I needed, and that's all that matters. I'll make up for it during the next few chapters.**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I had never been with a girl until today. I've been with plenty of guys in Duval for a profit, but never a girl. I never took the chance when the girls had to bunk with us for a month._

_It's alright, I suppose. It felt good, yes, but…..I can't put it in words. I expected it to be different._

_But a hole is a hole I guess._

**~*~V~*~**

'How big of a house could you possibly need?' TJ thought as he made his way through the large mansion that is Ashley A's house. He had walked through the halls enough times to know his way around and not get lost, but he found himself asking the same question each time he came inside. Ashley A. wasn't walking with him, because he had broken into the house with the aid of the same tools he used to break into rooms in Duval. Ashley A. had also informed him that both of her parents were of on a business trip, leaving her alone in the house. Why a parent would leave a teenager in a house, alone, for days, without the fear of a party being thrown, or something that would cause any form of damage was beyond him.

'I bet these people haven't been in all of these rooms,' he thought. He remembered asking Ashley about the size of the house. Seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, two kitchens, a home theatre, and indoor (and outdoor) pool. 'How many bathrooms do you need? You only have one ass….' He arrived in front of the door with Ashley's name painted in curvy calligraphy on the top. The door stood out by being painted pink. He knocked on the door three times before going inside. The size of the room baffled him as much as the size of the house. He blamed it on being used to living in a room that's considered the side of a closet, with another person on top of that.

"Hey," He said, going inside. He saw her lounging on her queen sized bed, on her laptop with her kitten sleeping next to her. "You called?"

"You got here fast," She said, closing her (also pink) laptop. "What's you with you? You act like you don't want anything to do with me."

"You're almost right," He said, sitting down next to her. "I'm upset."

"And why are you upset?"

"A little birdie told me that you, along with your friends, have an ulterior motive for you dating me. That little birdie sung a song of you only dating me for so-called 'protection' for when I, these are your words now, go on a rampage and kill everyone."

"I never said that!" She told him, folding her arms. "Who told you this? Randall? He's such a liar!"

"Ashley…."

"Like, why would I do that? I totally believe you when you say that you're not a threat. So there's no reason for us to, like, come up with a plan like that."

"Ashley A…..just tell me. Is it the truth?" He paid close attention to her mannerisms. Hey were quirks when he was getting to know her. Just simple gestures that he didn't think much of. Over time, he noticed certain one's she would do while she spun lies, though they were little lies, like those about the foods she likes or things she liked to do. The most prominent gesture she had was twirling a lock of her hair as she spoke.

And she was currently doing that.

"What do you think will happen if you tell me it's true? Do you think I'm going to hit you? The worse thing I'll do is break up with you!"

"Yes, that's the truth. I started dating you for….'protection'," She admitted. "You don't want anything to do with me now, right?"

"I didn't say that." He lay back on the bed against the pillow, staring at the ceiling as he thought of an answer. Ending the relationship they had wasn't the clearest answer he had. It was the most logical, but he liked her. However he was aware that most, if not all, teenage relationships don't last long, and this could be the ideal time to end it.

"I do like you though," She said breaking the silence. "It didn't start out that way, but I like you now. The other guys I dated treated me like I was prize to be won. You listen to me even when I have nothing but bullshit to say, and I like that. Now I'm dating you because I want to, not for some scheme. "

"Is that the truth?" She nodded. "I hope you're not lying to me, Ashley, because I like you too."

"Then we should stay together," She said lying down next to him. The small meow coming from Ashley's kitten waking up took their attention.

"Did you name it, yet?"

"Her name's Shinx, after the Pokemon."

"…..Is Pokemon still going on? How?"

"They made more of them. There's over 500 hundred of them now."

"There will only be 150 in my mind," He said, turning to her. "I'm not gonna break up with you, Ashley."

"Smart choice," She said sarcastically. "Because you'll never find another girl like me."

"If you say so." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips. That small kiss slowly grew into making-out and pulling each other close. As they continued, time seemed to pause as hey only focused on each other.

**~*~V~*~**

"Am I your first?" Ashley asked she cuddled closer to her boyfriend. Together, they were under the covers and sheets completely nude.

"You're the first girl I've been with, yes," TJ told her. "You're not _the_ first, but _a_ first. Still special in your own right."

"Does that mean you've been with guys before?"

"That's exactly what it means. Does that bother you?"

"No, not as long as you like girls too."

"I like girls. Not as much as other guys though. I would say it 60/40, but I haven't been with a girl, so it could be even." They were interrupted when Ashley's kitten hopped on the bed and walked over to them. "What does it want?"

"_She _wants my attention. You have a needy rabbit, you should know," She said, petting her. "You're rabbit is more spoiled than my kitten. And I'm rich."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"It's 8 o'clock. Why?"

"I promised Zack that I would read him a bedtime story," He said, reaching for his clothes. "His bedtime is in a half an hour; I don't want to be late."

"You really love your brother, don't you?"

"Of course I do. He's the only brother I have. I might've fucked up my life so far, but I don't want to mess up the time I have with him. I'll call you later." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

**~*~V~*~**

Stretching, TJ pushed himself up the stairs. The long walk from Ashley A's house to his was tiring, and after he read Zack his bedtime story, he was planning on going to bed early. He had no reason to stay up any later. School was enough of a bitch without being tired. Reaching the top of the stairs he heard Zack crying. Following the sound, he was lead into his own room where Zack was sitting on the floor next to Duracell's cage, crying and clutching is right hand.

"What's wrong, Zack?" He asked, sitting down next to him.

"Dura bit me," Zack cried, showing TJ his index finger. The tip of his finger was bleeding from a small cut. "I only wanted to pet her and she bit me!"

"It doesn't look TOO bad," TJ said, looking over the cut. "She might not want to play today, Zack. Maybe she doesn't want to be bothered or she's tired." He reached inside the cage and tried to pet Duracell. He didn't get close before Duracell bit his finger, hard, drawing blood. "Ow!"

"See? That's what she did to me!"

"Hmm. Let's clean up your cut, Zack." Getting off the floor, TJ held Zack's hand as he took him into the bathroom to clean his cut and put a Band-Aid on it. With Zack already in his pajama's, they headed into his bedroom to pick out a book to read to him.

"Can I watch you play your game?" Zack asked as they looked through the books on his shelf. "I like watching you play it."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

"Only until bedtime, okay?" I said, putting him into his bed. I walked out of his room and into mine. I grabbed my DS off my desk and walked back into Zack's room. Ashley A bought it for me. I didn't understand why. She could've bought it to make me happy before she liked me. I only have one game for it, Pokemon Diamond, and that's all I need. Video games are okay, but I get too focus and lose track of time. I do play it when I have time. Me and my army of Buneary's march through this game like a hot knife through butter, because fuck yeah, Buneary's. A couple of Lopunny's, too. I gave them nicknames. The six I have with me right now are named Pepper, Salt, Bugs, Pizza, Blanket, and Jimmy, for no particular reason.

I went back into Zack's room and sat on the floor and leaned against his bed. He crawled over to the edge and watched over my shoulder as I played. He like's watching me play this game. If I ever need to come up with something to keep him quiet, and that's rare because he's normally quiet on his own, I let him play Tetris or Bejeweled on my phone. He loves those games.

"TJ, will Dura stop biting us tomorrow?" Zack asked.

"I don't know. She could. But until I know that she stopped biting, I want you to leave her alone. Don't try to pet her unless I'm there with you."

"'Kay. Can I go over to Mr. Old Man's house with you?" Mr. Old Man. He means Prickly, but he has trouble pronouncing his name. He ends up saying 'picky' instead.

"Why? Do you like going over there?"

"Yeah. His house is big and it's like explorin' in there. Like an adventure!"

"Alright. You can come with me. But it's your bedtime. Are you wearing your pull-up?" He nodded. Just to be sure, I double checked. After he wet the bed for what think is the first time, he became sensitive to the subject. He doesn't want anyone besides me, mom, and dad to know that he has to wear pull-ups to bed, which I understand. Seeing that he's wearing them, I tucked him into bed and wished him goodnight.

Closing the door to his room, I rubbed my eye and tried to move it. It didn't budge. This has got to be the twelfth time it's been like this. I have an appointment with my optometrist Saturday. I need some heavy-duty antibiotic to take care of this.

I checked my phone as a sat on my bed. Two missed calls. One from Bandit and one from Specs. Something's up. We never call each other. We always text. I started to dial Bandit's number, but stopped when I heard the creek of my door opening. Looking over, I saw that Zack was peeking through the door.

"Yes, Zack?"

"There's a monster under my bed," He said quietly. "I'm scared."

"A monster? There's no such thing as monsters." I saw him take a couple steps back and begin to cry. Shit. Did I do that? There probably is something scaring him, but not a 'monster.' "I'm sorry. Let's go check together."

"It's under there," Zack said, pointing under his bed. I got on my knees and looked underneath the bed.

I do see what appears to be a set of sharp teeth, but that can't be. I reached and grabbed it. It was warm and fuzzy. I pulled it from under the bed. Oh. Is that what it was?

"It's a sweater," I said, holding it up for Zack to see. The 'teeth' I saw were triangles on it. "It's just your sweater, that's all." I put it in his closet and closed it. "Nothing to be afraid of." I lifted him up and put him back in his bed. "Goodnight, Zack."

**~*~V~*~**

"This is some serious shit though, because he's not talkin' to anyone right now. We haven't heard from him. What 'bout you, Freckles?"

Once I was done helping my brother I called Bandit. Spec's was with him too. I put the call on speaker.

"I haven't heard from him. I hoping one of you did. Any idea what's going on?"

"Not a clue," I heard Specs say. "We would go to the jail to visit, but we don't have a car. We both have our license, but no car. Do you have a car?"

"Nope. I don't have my license, either. And no buses go up to Duval. Shit."

"But we all know JoJo. I bet he's fine. He could be too busy with his case to write us back," Said Bandit.

"Still worried though," I told him. "If I don't hear from him soon, I'm finding a way to that jail to see him."

"Be sure to tell us about it," Specs said. "How's Duracell doing? You know we all miss her. You better not have given her away!"

"I didn't! She's right here in her cage, sleeping. She bit me and my brother today to the point of bleeding. She's never been like that. If she hates something I do she would ignore me, not bite me, and she doesn't bite Zack no matter what he does."

"She's cranky. A little cranky bunny. Did you have her spayed? Rabbits get like that if they're not spayed or neutered."

"I think I did. Anyway, I have to go. If you two find out anything about JoJo, let me know. I'll tell you if I find anything."

"Got it. Talk to you later, Freckles."

I hung up the phone and placed it on the charger. I'm up later than I had planned to be. JoJo's worrying the shit out of me. C'mon, dude. We were each other's back-up for what, the last four years. Least he could do was keep us informed that he was still alive. Two more weeks. That's as long as I'm giving him before I'm going to look for him. Two weeks.

But right now, it's time for bed.

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><p><strong>I'm glad some of you like Ashley A. in this story. Out of all the Ashley's I thought she could be one of the more redeemable ones. I was going to have TJ either date her or someone else, like CJ from that one episode with all the doppelgangers.<strong>

**Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	65. Eye for an Eye

**I like this chapter. I like it, the next one, and the two after that, because things happen. Exciting things. It'll be fun when it gets here. But for now, let's take it easy in this chapter with a little drama.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I'm beginning to make progress in one area of my life. It's a good feeling, after being in a stalemate for three months. I'm getting an idea of what career I would like to have. I would like to work with animals. Preferably small animals. I blame Duracell for putting the idea in my head, the little fluff-ball._

_But by the way she's acting, I might be terrible at it._

**_~*~V~*~_**

With the unbearably bright light being aimed at his eye, TJ fought back the instinct to blink and get away. He sat in the leather chair in the office of his optometrist as the doctor examined is blind and infected eye. The dim light of the room made the bright light worse. When the doctor was done, the light was turned off. He blinked to adjust back to the lighting in the entire room. Circles of colors floated around in his vision before fading away. Though the light was aimed at his blind eye, he also saw the light in his right eye as well.

"Your eye is infected for the fourteenth time since I started seeing you," the doctor said, turning back to him. "It's annoying, isn't it?"

"It's more than annoying. It hurts, too. I have to wear shades everywhere I go and take aspirin every day to cope with the pain," TJ told him. "What are we going to do about it?" The doctor sighed.

"I don't ordinarily recommend this. In fact, I only recommended this to one other patient. Because your blind eye has been repeatedly infected, and you say it hurts as well, I say that you should have it removed."

"…..Removed? Is that safe?"

"Yes. It's a simple procedure. They would put you sleep throughout the surgery. Because the eye is surrounded by bone, it would be less painful then say, having a kidney removed, though you would have a headache for a day or two afterwards. You can even go home the same day. You wouldn't have much to adjust to, not being able to see out that eye anyways. Then, two to six weeks after the surgery, you would come here to get a temporary prosthetic eye to keep the socket the form sinking out, and then you would get a final prosthetic. It's a much better option than constantly fighting infections."

"How soon can I have it done?" TJ asked. Being put to sleep and not knowing exactly what was happened made him nervous, but his eye bothered him more than the surgery made him nervous.

"You can go in as soon as next weekend. The procedure is not done here, but at the hospital. You'll be fitted for a prosthetic eye and have all your check-ups here."

"What if they take out the wrong eye?"

"They won't, I promise. Before you go in, they'll mark the right one to be sure. There's nothing to be afraid of."

**~*~V~*~**

"So I'm going into surgery next weekend. I never been in surgery before, unless you count the one time I slit my wrists, or when I got stitches on my head. I'm nervous about the whole thing. Some reassuring words would be encouraging, sir."

"It's nothing. Waking up will appear to happen just as fast as you fall asleep. What are you going in for?"

Being told that a surgery was in the near future didn't stop TJ from continuing his schedule for the rest of the weekend. He played with Zack for the rest of the day yesterday, and was currently in the front yard of his former principal pulling weeds. He kept his promise to Zack to bring him along, and he was on the porch, coloring in his coloring book.

"I'm having my blind eye removed. An enucleation is the word for it," TJ said, brushing the grass off his hands. "I'm almost happy. It kept getting infected and this way, I won't have to deal with it. I'll have to take it easy for the two weeks after, so I can't come over."

"That's fine. You did plenty of work around here already, though I don't know why," Prickly said from his seat on the porch.

"I do it because I want to help you out. You're not getting any younger, no offense. Lemme help fix the house up. Keeps me out of trouble. Um, where's your lawn mower?"

"In the garage." TJ left and came back with the lawn mower.

"I'm glad you got a real mower and got rid of that push mower you had," He said starting the mower. "Technology is a good thing."

"Yes, but the push mower cut lower." Pushing the mower, TJ knew that cutting the overgrown grass was going to take longer than he had expected. Meanwhile on the porch, Prickly was trying to figure out why his former student was so insistent on doing some much work on a house that he didn't live it. He appreciated the help; the upkeep a house needed was harder to maintain now that he was beginning to age. However, he wanted to make sure that TJ wasn't doing it because he felt he _owed_ it to him for being is only contact whilst in Duval.

But if doing all the work kept him out of trouble like he said, then so be it. He didn't want to see his former student do something stupid and get in trouble.

"Mr. Old Man," Zack asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I drew you a picture of your house for you."

"Did you? Can I see?" Zack held up a sheet of paper for him to see. On it was a simple crayon drawing of the house. Prickly could make out himself and Zack on the front porch and TJ in the yard. "That's a great picture."

"It's for you," Zack said, handing him the drawing. "I'm thirsty. Can I have something to drink?" TJ watched the two of them go inside the house. He stopped to catch his breath before working on the last half of the lawn. Even after he finished the front lawn, he still had the back to cut, then the garage to clean.

He suddenly wished he had brought his iPod to listen to. It would help pass the time.

"Detweiler." Hearing his name called, he looked up and saw Zack and Prickly come back out of the house. "Take a break."

"I'll take a break when I'm done," He said, beginning to push the lawn again.

"Now, Detweiler. Before you pass out." Sighing, he turned the lawn mower off and joined the two on the porch.

"Happy now?"

"Well excuse me for looking after your health," Prickly said, handing him a glass of lemonade. "You're no help if you're not conscious."

"I would've stopped before that happened," He said. He sat on the steps of the porch and swallowed half the glass in two large gulps. "Hmm…didn't know I was _that_ thirsty."

"You don't have to do all this work today. It's supposed to be hot later," Prickly told him.

"It's not like I have anything else to do today. This wasn't an issue when I painted the house _last _weekend…."

"It wasn't hot outside and you were taking your time," Prickly defended. "You took breaks too."

"Right."

"If you're going to be stubborn and clean the garage anyways, there's something in there I want you to keep an eye out for."

"What is it?"

"You'll know what it is when you see it, trust me."

"That doesn't help me, but I'll take your word for it," Said TJ. "Hey, you're a driver. Can you teach me how, sir? I haven't learned yet, and being 17, I would like to."

"Driving lessons? Yes, I'll teach you, but not today."

"Oh no, I wasn't asking for it today. I was asking for after I recover from the surgery. Three weeks from now. Thanks, I appreciate it. It'll be a great present after the surgery and all." He paused to get back on his feet and hand over the now empty glass. "Back to work."

**~*~V~*~**

TJ coughed as dust was stirred from him moving things around in the garage. Seven of the ten boxes inside were moved outside and he was working on lifting the eighth.

"Jesus, what the hell is in this box?" He said, sitting the box back down. He found the box to be too heavy to lift and choose to push it outside to save himself the harm he would do to his back otherwise. Shoving the box towards the exit, a small bicycle leaning against the wall was exposed. "Is this what I'm supposed to keep an eye out for?" he asked himself. He patted the thick layer of dust of the small bike. Carrying it outside the garage, he could see the chipping orange paint and the fading 'Road-Runner' written on it. "Nice bike. Could use a new coat of paint, though."

He went back in the garage and finished moving the other boxes out. He grabbed the broom and began to sweep the dust and dirt outside. Bringing everything back inside, minus the bike, he went back in the house and found Zack and Prickly in the living room watching TV.

"All done," He said sitting down on the couch. "I found a bike out there. Is that what I was looking for?"

"Yep. It's still in good shape after all these years. I thought you might want to give it to Zack," Said Prickly. "The size adjusts, if it's too big or small for him."

"Hey Zack, how would you like to have a new bike?"

"But I don't know how to ride one," Zack told him. "I only got a tricycle."

"I'll teach you how. It's easy, I promise. And you'll never forget when you learn."

"You too better get going. It's starting to get dark out," Said Prickly. TJ looked outside and saw the sun beginning to set.

"Good idea. Mom and Dad will start to worry if Zack's not home soon. Do I take the bike with me?"

"Of course. It's not doing anything here except rust."

"Okay. Say thank you for your new bike, Zack."

"Thank you for the bike, Mr. Sir."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

The following Monday at lunchtime, I found myself sitting at the table with Vince and the others. I don't normally sit with them; I usually sit by myself, or with Ashley A., but today I need a favor and only they can do it. I don't sit with them on a regular basis because I have something against them; I don't. I don't sit with them because…..

Hell, I don't sit with them because I don't want to sit with them. Do I _need_ a reason besides that?

They're having a conversation about something….I'm not paying attention to what it is. I'm staying out of the discussion. I have enough on my mind.

First thing, Duracell is being a complete brat. I feed her, clean her cage, by her toys, and how do I get repaid? In bites and scratches. Spoiled rabbit.

Next, JoJo is scaring the hell out of me, Specs, and Bandit. If I starting talking about that for too long, I won't stop for hours.

THEN, I realize that I have to go around looking like Ralphie's twin from the Twilight Zone. I can't bleach my hair now, or for two weeks after the surgery and the brown is already growing in. So there's that...

While I'm on the topic of Ralphie, he's looking over at me every few minutes and smiling at me. Get the fuck away from me you little rip-off.

"TJ?" I looked up from my phone when I heard Spinelli's voice calling me.

"Huh?"

"We asked you why you choose to sit over here today," She asked. "For what reason have you graced us with your presence?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," I said. "I'm over here because I need a favor. I'm can't come to school next week because I'm going in into surgery on Sunday to have my left eye removed." I saw them all wince when I mentioned my eye.

"Why would they take your eye out? It's your _eye_. Not your tonsils," Vince's. "You sort of need it."

"Most people. But I'm not using it anyways. I'm blind in my left eye, so I'm used to not seeing through it. It keeps getting infected. That's why they're taking it out. I'm asking you guys to get the homework in the classes that I have with you all."

"Your blind?" Gus asked. Right….I didn't tell them. Sighing, I saved myself the explanation and took off JoJo's shades, letting them see my left eye. The normal blue color was faded and no longer as bright as the right.

"In my left eye only. So will you all help me?" I asked them. They all agreed. "Thanks. I'll be outside if any of you need me." I stood out of my seat and walked out of the lunchroom to the back of the school. No one's back here, except for Francis, and that's only on Wednesday's. He sells cigarettes for cheap. It was a pain in the ass to get him to not run when I approached him for the first time.

I was almost done with my cigarette when I heard the metal door open and close. Ashley, I'm sure. Oh. I'm wrong. It's Ralphie.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, turning around.

"No," He said standing next to me. "Kind of. I have a feeling that you don't want to be friends with me." Damn right.

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"You barely talk to me when I try, and you give me a bad look when I smile," He said, while smiling.

"Sorry you think that."

"I am too, because it would be a shame if something bad happened."

"Something bad? Like what?"

"I don't know, just saying it would be a shame," Said Ralphie. He's still smiling. "I like you, I wouldn't want your world to go up in smoke before I got the chance to know you. I think it's best if we attempted to get along, okay?"

"Uh-huh." I brushed him off, and he stayed for a few seconds before turning and leaving. What the hell does he mean?

"_I am too, because it would be a shame if something bad happened."_

"_I wouldn't want your world to go up in smoke before I got the chance to know you."_

I tossed my cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. I don't need this. Is he threatening me? With a _smile_? I can't tell. You can't tell anything by the way he looks. Whatever the fuck, I'm going back to class.

**~*~V~*~**

As soon as I opened the door to the house, I could hear the bell in Duracell's cage being rung. It's okay for her to be a royal brat and bite me, but when she wants food, she's her sweet self. She's too smart, but she has to eat. Shouldn't bite the hand that feeds her.

"Okay, okay. I hear you," I said as I entered my room. She stopped ringing the bell when she said me. I grabbed a handful of the timothy hay and placed it in her cage. Right as a set it down, she bit my hand, again and again. "What's your issue?" I asked and I pulled my hand out. She stared at me and started thumping her back leg. "Whatever, _Thumper._ Be that way. See if I care." She's grunting now.

It's time to make rabbit stew.

Just kidding. I wouldn't do it. I just want her to stop.

"You used to love me," I said, watching her carry hay in her mouth to another spot in the cage. "You did, as hard as it is to believe. What did I do so wrong? I can't _touch_ you. I'm only allowed to feed you and clean your cage. Other than that, you want nothing to do with me. Are you pregnant? Pregnant women can be straight bitches sometimes. Nah, you're not pregnant. You can't be. I got you spayed, I think….you better not be pregnant, Duracell, I can't handle more than one adorable rabbit at a time. It's too much. It's bad enough I have a soft spot for small animals, I can't have more than one of you around. I'll turn into a freakin' girl if there were a bunch of AA-Batteries around. My manhood will go out the window. So don't be pregnant."

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><p><strong>Did you all like this chapter? I did. I'll like the next chapter and the one after too. So many things will happen. Now all I have to do it type it.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	66. Surprise, Surprise

**I hope I have this chapter up fast enough for everyone. I hit several walls and didn't know where to go, but I grabbed my jackhammer and broke through it as fast as I could. Also, we have the return of a certain character in this chapter. It's not who you all think, trust me. It someone way more diabolical. **

**Last thing, I'm assuming that the bulk of you reading this are teenagers, or older. I'm getting a new phone next weekend, only problem is, I don't know which one. Any recommendations? One with a great battery life would be nice.**

**Read On!**

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><p>TJ was put off by the cold staleness of the hospital. The air felt germ free, and it was the complete opposite to what he was used to and how he thought it should be. The world was full of grime and dirt and germs that did more good than bad. The hospital was too much like a sterilized factory than a place meant to heal. But he had to be there.<p>

He sat in a hospital bed with Zack on his lap and his parents sitting next to the bed he was in. He was waiting to be rolled back to the operating room. His fear of something going wrong (the wrong eye being taken out) was alleviated when the surgeon came in and marked above his left eye with a marker. Now, he was working on easing his brother's fears for him.

"Won't it hurt when they take it out?" Zack asked as he squirmed in TJ's lap. He was covering one of his eyes to see for himself what it was like to see the way his older brother did.

"No. I won't feel a thing. They're going to give me medicine to take the pain away," Said Zack. "I'll be asleep when they do it."

"I'd be scared," he said.

"I was scared too, but we have to face our fears. We have to be brave."

"Then I'll be brave too!"

"Good, I'll need it."

TJ continued to comfort his little brother until it was time for him to go into surgery. He was rolled back into the OR. He layed on his back when the anesthetist came up to him and put a plastic mask over his mouth.

"Just count backwards from 100," the nurse said "You'll fall asleep right away."

'100, 99, 98,' he counted backwards in his head. The anesthesia worked fasters than he expected and he started to doze off.

**~*~V~*~**

'…Ngh…oh God…..why is the world so bright? Am I in heaven…? I'm coming back from the dead and killing that surgeon….' At first, TJ thought that the bright lights that were threatening to blind the only eye he had left were a sight of him showing up at the gates of heaven. This shocked him for two reasons. One, he had gotten into heaven, and two, that meant his surgeon lied about everything going smoothly. The light soon faded to level more bearable, and he could see more detail of the ceiling. Nausea and an unbearable headache quickly settled in.

"What happened?" He asked, too tired to move and look around for himself. "Is it over?"

"TJ you're awake!" he heard Zack voice a thousand times as loud as it should've been. He winced in the pain that the volume caused him.

"Zack, you have to use your inside voice now," He heard his mother say. "You can't be loud. Nice to see you're awake. You've been out of surgery for an hour."

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick," he mumbled, looking around. "Someone's taking a drill to my face…."

"That's completely normal and is to be expected." They all looked up and saw the surgeon walking over to the bed he was laying in, carrying a clipboard with him. "Everything went smoothly without a hitch. Good thing, too. Once we took the eye out, we found cysts on the back. Your only concern now is coming off the anesthesia. You might feel groggy and nauseated for the rest of the day, maybe into tomorrow. The left side of your face could develop a bruise, but that's nothing to fuss over. You're going to have one hell of a headache, but we're going to give you painkillers to soothe it. Make sure to take it easy for the next week. No every lifting, and no strenuous work."

"There's a big gaping hole in my face," TJ mumbled, feeling the bandage over his left eye socket.

"Yes, but your eyelid covers it. The eye helps keep it up, and without it there, it stay down on its own. We're giving you a solution to wash out that socket with every twelve hours. The worst part is getting used to the feeling."

"I'm queasy enough as it is, Doctor. Please spare me the gory details," TJ asked him. "How soon can I go home? Do I have to stay here over night?"

"You can go home in an hour. We want make sure you're coming off the anesthesia smoothly."

**~*~V~*~**

"Mom, I'm okay, really. I'm not even hungry." Arriving home, TJ found that him mother was going to rush him upstairs and into bed. Right after he was in bed, he closed his eye and focused finishing his nap that he started on during the ride home. That didn't happen, because five minutes later, his mother returned to his room with a bowl of chicken noodle soup she insisted that he eat. He didn't have the appetite to smell food, let alone eat any. But his mother was persisted.

"You haven't had anything to eat since last night," His mother said.

"That was the doctor's order," TJ said, looking at the bowl that was given to him. "I couldn't eat anything because I could've thrown up during surgery. I'm not hungry right now, mom."

"You need something in your stomach before you go to sleep," She said. "Eat."

"If I eat it, I'm only going to throw it back up," He argued. "I want to enjoy it and keep it in my stomach, not toss it back out. I'll eat some when I'm feeling better. Please? I only want to sleep."

"Alright. The food will be downstairs when you wake up," His mother said. She closed the door, leaving him alone in his room.

"What are you looking at?" He asked Duracell, who was looking at him through her cage. She turned and went back to eating. "I need to lay down; the world is spinning." Resting his head on the pillow, he felt as if a ton of weight was lifted off his shoulders, and another ton was about to be lifted when he was closing his eyes. He began to drift off to sleep when the blaring sound of his cell phone alerting him of a new text message blasted through his ears. "Who has the balls to text me right now….?"

He reached over the edge of his bed and searched absentmindedly for his phone. Grabbing it, he checked the message and saw that it was from Gus.

**Gus: R u ok? R u home from the hospital?**

_**Yes, I'm home.**_

**Gus: We all want 2 come over and c u**

_**No. No. I'm tired & my head hurts. Come by tomorrow, when I feel better.**_

**Gus: Ok, got it. **

TJ turned down the volume on his phone and effectively tossed it across the room. He didn't want any additional, unnecessary noise to aggravate his headache. He covered himself with a blanket and smashed his head onto his pillow, demanding sleep to hurry and knock him out.

_"Wake up you bleached-blonde, freckled-faced prison whore. I'm back from vacation." _

"Leave me alone, Alex. I don't need your shit." TJ said out loud. He looked up from his pillow and found his tormenting imaginary creature in his room. Alex sat on the floor across from his bed, now an older, more menacing, black haired, red eyed, sharp toothed, devil that had returned after years of absence. TJ hoped that he was gone for good and didn't have to deal with that voice of his in his ear that no one else could hear. "Go back to hell."

_"I came back from there, actually. It was nice. And hot," Alex said. "Don't think for a second that I'm leaving. You're too fun to mess with, Freckles."_

"Don't call me that. You don't have to the right to call me that. Only my friends call me that, you are not my friend. You're not real."

_"Keep saying that. Go ahead. You're still talking to me, though you claim I'm 'not real.' I'm as real as you say I'm not," Said Alex. "I'm leaving now, but I'll be back later. We've got so much to catch up on."_

"It keeps getting better and better," TJ said to himself as he rolled into a more comfortable position. "I could use some drugs about now…"

**~*~V~*~**

He sound of a bell continuously ringing brought TJ out of his sleep. His nausea had gone away during his four hour nap, but his headache was no better than before. He forced himself out of bed and against his urge to crawl under the blankets.

"I get it, you're hungry," He said as he opened the door to her cage. He didn't have a chance to put any new food in her cage, because she jumped out and onto his lap. "You like me now? Why the sudden change of behavior?" He asked, petting her. "Is your cage dirty? No….I cleaned it two days ago. There's your food, your water bottle is full and clean, your bathroom in the corner. And…..what is that?" Spotting something that was not there the day before, TJ moved closer to get a better look. A small pile of timothy hay and fur sat in a corner. On top, were tiny, furless, creatures resting.

"Now I know why you were cranky," He said. "You _were_ pregnant. How many are there….? One…two…..five…..seven…ten. Damn. Ten babies. I forgive you for biting and scratching me. If I was having ten babies I would be pissed all the time, too. Congrats, mommy." He lifted himself off the floor and walked into Zack's room, carrying Duracell with him. His brother was alone in his room, sitting at his plastic table drawing.

"Hi, TJ! Are you better now?" Zack asked him.

"A little. Do you want to see something?"

"See what?"

"Duracell's babies. She had babies."

"Wow! Really? I wanna see! I wanna see!"

"Then you have to be quiet, Zack. Use your inside voice. C'mon." He led his little brother into his room and let him sit down next to the cage to see the newborns.

"They're so tiny," Said Zack. "Are they okay?"

"They're perfectly fine. I read in a book that baby rabbits are born like this. they'll start looking like their mommy in a few weeks. They're why she was biting us. She's nice now."

"That's a lot of babies," Said Zack. "TJ can I have one?"

"….Hmm. Maybe. You have to prove to me that you can take care of one. You can start by helping me take care of Duracell and her babies."

"'Kay! I'll do a good job! You'll give me two 'cause I'll do a good job!"

While Zack played with Duracell, TJ was kicking himself for dismissing all the now obvious signs. He had his suspicious the week before, and felt dumb for not taking her to the vet to make sure. All the signs that he read about in the book the vet had given him were there, but he dismissed it as her being moody or spoiled. As a result, he was unprepared for the arrival of the baby bunnies.

"How am I going to take care of ten more rabbits?" he asked himself. "I have to get a bigger cage, another cage to separate the boys from the girls….more food, bedding, vet bills, toys…." His headache grew as the price he estimated in his head grew. "I could give them away, but they'll grow on me when they get bigger and I won't want to…." His stomach growled, reminding him how hungry he was. "Dinner time. I'll solve this problem when I have a clear head."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Oh God this is gross. Swirling a solution in my eye socket like the doctor said, it's a nasty sensation of having a gaping hole in your face. Back and forth I swirled, doing whatever it was given to me to do. I'm going to be sick. Time to let it out. I held open my eyelid to let the solution pour out into the sink. I waited for the last drops to fall out. The last time I did this, I didn't let it all out and it looked like I was crying. I wiped what had fallen down my cheek and washed my hands. There's a huge bruise from the tip of my forehead to the left side of face down the bottom of my nose. Looks like someone landed one hell of a sucker punch. It'll go down in a few days. I wouldn't be up this early (it's 9 a.m.) if Spinelli and the others hadn't come over. They're in my room now. I asked them to be quiet because of the babies, and as soon as I said 'babies' they want to see them. There's not much to see. They don't move much until they're a week old, and not that appealing to look at. They're blind, deaf, and hairless. They don't even look like rabbits yet.

I walked back in my room and saw that most of them had gotten over their interest of the little things. Except Mikey. He still has a soft spot for animals, just like back at Third Street and that crazy cat.

"Not that I don't like you guys, because I do, but it's 9 a.m.," I said, sitting on my bed. "What's going on?"

"We said we were going to come over after your surgery. Did everything go okay?" Asked Gus. "You look like you ran into five brick walls."

_"You should run __him __into five brick walls," I heard Alex say. _He's sitting on the floor across from me. Of course, they can't see him. I'm not going to answer anything he says, but if I slip up, I'll say it's the medication making m act crazy. Hopefully, they'll believe me.

"Yeah, it'll go away in a couple days. I'm more worried about getting a prosthetic. I hope it's not heavy."

"What kind are you getting?" Gretchen asked.

_"Nosey, know-it-all girl," Alex scoffed. "Mind your business."_

"A glass eye. I almost don't want to get it, because it looks kind of cool without anything in there. Wanna see?" they nodded and I held open my eyelid for them to see. It's not a black hole, it's a dark pink color, I saw for myself. "I won't get it for another two weeks, but I need that, and the next week off."

"Do you really _need_ the week off? You seem fine to me," Vince asked.

"I had a major organ removed yesterday. I'm taking the week off. But thanks for getting my homework. I owe you guys."

"Think you can still come to my game on Friday?" He asked me. "_When_ we win, we'll be in the finals."

"Friday? Yeah, I can make it," I said, yawning. I didn't get much sleep last night. I kept waking up every two hours and staying up for another two. "What's going on with you?" I asked Spinelli. She's sitting next to be, but hasn't said anything since they came. "How's your life going?"

"It's going great, especially since I was accepted into the state wide contest for junior artists," Spinelli said with a proud smile on her face. "First prize is $1,000 and a $5,000 dollar scholar ship."

_"Ugh. Smug bitch. You should've raped her when you had the chance, dude. She's got some nice tits," Alex said, taking out a cigarette. "Had the chance to put her back in her place. But, like always, you were stupid."_ I had to restrain myself from jumping up and yelling at him. I wanted to punch him, but I know all my fist would come in contact with is the wall.

"That's great. I saw some of your pictures around the classroom. They're amazing."

_"Oh stop being a suck-up. You know you want to knock the sense out of that female," Alex hissed. "Better yet, let's have some fun. Her house is right down the street. Go get that lighter out of your jacket and light that shit up like the fourth of July." _

"TJ can I have one of your rabbits?" Mikey asked, still looking over them in the cage. "When they get bigger?"

"I have no idea what I'm going to do with them Mikey. If I choose to give them new homes, I'll keep you in mind."

_"He's going to make rabbit stew out of the poor thing. Don't you dare," Alex said. _That the first time I heard him show concern over anything, but it's not genuine. He's making fun of Mikey, just like the others.

We continued talk for an hour, and Alex kept trying to make me lose it with his smart-ass comments. I thought I was doing good. I held myself back as his comments became more offensive, if that's possible. I became more focused on what Alex was saying than the conversation, and I reacted faster than I could stop myself when he said something that ticked me off.

_"You should've killed these people by now. What's taking so long? At the very least you should've taken out that underfoot little thing you call a brother."_

"SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH BEFORE I KILL _YOU_ INSTEAD!" I screamed, closing my eyes and clutching my fists. When I opened my eyes, they're all staring at me.

"…..is everything okay, TJ?" Gretchen asked. I shook my head.

"No," I said getting up and walking out the room. "I need some air." I went outside for fresh air. I need it.

…

This isn't happening.

It can't be.

I was doing good.

I haven't committed a crime, lit a fire, or hurt anyone, like I said I would.

This can't be happening. It can't.

_"You better believe it's happening," I heard Alex voice in my head._

I thought Alex was gone, Mr. Simmons said so…

Not now.

Not when things are going so good.

I have a girlfriend…

I'm being the best big brother I can be…

Good grades…

Reconciling with those I hurt years ago…

This can't happen...

It can't…

Not now…

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><p><strong>Is that a cliffhanger that a left up there? I believe so. Next chapter, I'm not sure what will happen. I'm still organizing the order of events, but it will be more cheerful.<strong>

**Please review.**


	67. The Reunion

**You all were demanding that I get this chapter up ASAP. I tried my best. I wanted to make sure that it was as good as I could make it. The next chapter is more dramatic than this one, because this one had to be done but wasn't filled with drama. It is, however, filled with happiness that will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Like a teddy bear, or snuggling under blankets on a cold winter night.**

**How far away is the end of this story? I'd be awesome if this story was a solid 100 chapters. That's what I'm aiming for. 100, or less.**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_It's been about a week since Duracell gave birth. The babies look like rabbits now, but they're still not up and hopping. That won't happen for another week. They're trying to move, taking baby-like steps, but they don't get far. They have fur now, but only a little. Names would be nice to give them, but I want to give them names based on how they are, like I did Duracell. I probably won't give them names until next week when their personalities develop._

_I don't know why, but when I'm taking care of Duracell and her bunnies, Alex is silent. Not a word comes out of his mouth. He's there, but doesn't say a word. I can't be around her 24/7, that's the bad thing. I try not to pay attention to Alex, or to tune him out, but he always gets my attention. My next meeting with Mr. Simmons isn't until the end of the month._

_Don't let me do anything dumb until then._

**~*~V~*~**

Loud cheers roared from the crowd and bounded off the walls in the gym as the home team scored another point. The noise help drown out any slick insulting comment Alex had to say about anything, which TJ was thankful for. Alex took every single opportunity there was to tempt him to do something that TJ _knew _was wrong, but slowly began to consider. Alex was, when he was around, talking about lighting something on fire. He talked about it less and less as the days went on, because TJ was thinking about it more and more on his own. His love of fire hadn't faded, but his focus on it had. It laid dormant in his mind, appearing to be an issue that was resolved and posed no threat. Alex was pushing it out, causing TJ pay attention to it. It boiled up to the point where one day, when he went outside to smoke and Alex followed.

**~*~FLASHBACK~*~**

_"You can't tell me you don't love looking at it," Alex whispered in his ear._ In the midst of lighting his cigarette, Alex stopped him a made TJ look at the small flame coming out.

"Yeah, I do. So what? It doesn't mean anything," TJ said, putting the lighter away and choosing not to smoke.

_"It could be bigger. It could be more powerful. You can make it like that. Just put it against something and watch it grow," Alex tempted. "Remember what it was like to light things on fire and how it felt?"_

TJ thought back to when he lit things on fire before the elementary school. He went searching for old and discarded homework sheets and textbooks, and put them inside a beaten up trashcan. He lit a match and tossed it in the trashcan, letting the papers catch on fire and burn. He did it deep in the wood were it looked like no one came through. He used to watch the fire, the same way he would watch TV, or a movie, until the fire fizzled out on its own.

I always made him feel better if he had a particularly bad day, or if he had gotten in trouble with his parents. When he was angry it would calm him down and if he was sad, it would make him happy.

"That doesn't mean anything," He said. "It was bad, and I'm not doing it again."

_"Why not? Have some fun for once. Light something on fire. Something small," Alex said, tempting him. "No, go big. Light the whole damn school on fire."_

"No."

_"Yes."_

"It's not happening."

_"Yes it will. It's only a matter of time."_

**~*~END OF FLASHBACK~*~**

The thought of setting something on fire popped up without Alex increasing often, and that lead to hours upon hours of TJ telling himself that he wouldn't _consider _messing with fire again. He didn't want to get caught and thrown back in jail. Things were going too good to be wasted on one moment of stupidity.

He got his 'fix' by staring at the small flame on his lighter. That wasn't working as well as it used to.

The buzzer signaling halftime brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the court where the players were coming off and the cheerleaders were coming onto the court. He made eye contact with Ashley A. and the two smiled at each other before the squad began to perform their routine.

**~*~V~*~**

_"It's about time that game was over. My throat was hurting from yelling over the crowd," Alex said. _The game had ended twenty minutes ago, and students were beginning to leave. TJ stayed in the gym to wait for Ashley A.

'Good. Now you'll get a sore throat and have to stop talking,' TJ thought. 'Your voice is worse than nails on a chalkboard.'

"Thanks for waiting." He turned as Ashley A. Came up to him and wrapped her arm around him. "I'm having an after party at my house. Wanna come?"

"A party? That depends. How long is it supposed to be?" He asked her.

"Only an hour or two. It's Friday and I need to catch up on my beauty rest," Said Ashley A. "We haven't spent any time together since last week. Please?"

"I'll only be able to stay for an hour," he said as they walked outside. "I told Zack I would show him my old tree house in our backyard. I'll make up for not seeing you all week tomorrow. And if you're tired, why throw a party at all?"

_"Why are you questioning it? You're gonna get a piece of ass," Said Alex. "Do something right for once."_

"I have an image to maintain. You know that," She said as her driver pulled up next to them. "Let's go, before everyone else gets there."

**~*~V~*~**

"…..And there were only five second left and we and the other team were tied. I swear that time slowed down in those last five seconds because I did too much for it to be that little bit of time. I must've been running around 30 mph because everything was a blur. Then I heard the whistle and I looked around and saw that I made a touchdown, breaking the tie and winning the game. It was amazing, you guys should've seen it."

"…..We did see it, Vince. We were there, watching."

With half of the students that came out to the basketball game in his girlfriend's backyard, TJ found it easier to stay. He planned to leave if he found that the crowd was too big for his taste. He leaned against the fence, listening to Vince explain his point of view of the play that won the game for his team.

"I know you guys saw it, but I want to let you know what I saw," Vince said with enthusiasm. "You can't understand all of it if you don't know what it was like to be down there on the field, making the play, and putting the other team in their place where they belong."

"This is the third time telling us. How much more detail can you go into?" Gus asked him.

"You have no idea," Said Vince. "I'm not done explaining it."

"Yes you are," Gretchen told him, taking his hand and kissing him on the cheek. "Pick something else to talk about."

"C'mon, this is a big deal! I made the winning touchdown and we're going to the championship, all because of me!"

"Listen to your girlfriend," TJ said. He pushed himself of the fence. "She's smart….….and what are you looking at?" He asked, noticing the strange looks on their faces. He turned around to see if they were looking at something behind him, but found nothing. "What's with you all?"

"Nothing," Spinelli said, taking a sip of her soda. "Nothing at all."

"Something," He mumbled. He tossed his cigarette and stomped it out. "I'm heading home, gotta go before my rabbit goes apeshit after being stuck in a cage all d—" he was cut short when an arm wrapped around his neck from behind and forced him into a headlock. He twisted and fought his way out of it. When he broke free, he stood up and looked into a familiar pair of green eyes.

"What's goin' on, Freckles?"

"JoJo what the hell!" TJ gave his former roommate a half serious shove. The two pretended to fight, throwing light punches and avoiding each other's hits. They eventually stopped and JoJo kept one arm wrapped tightly around TJ's neck.

"Miss me, Freckles?"

"Where the hell have you been?" TJ asked him. "You had me worried sick!"

"I was busy! I'll tell you 'bout it later," Said JoJo. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends? Don't be rude."

"Right, right. These are my friends," TJ said, turning back to the others. "This is Spinelli, you know her already, Vince, Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus. Everyone, this is JoJo. If it wasn't for this asshole I might've been killed in Duval. How did you find me here?"

"You showed me where you lived when we broke out. Don't tell me you don't remember," Said JoJo. "We saw you leave and followed you in my car."

"We?"

"Yeah 'we.' Me, Specs, and Bandit." JoJo pointed across the yard where Specs ad Bandit where at the food table putting whatever food they could reach in their mouth. He tightened his grip around TJ's neck. "How's my rabbit, Freckles? She better be happy."

"She's more than happy. She's ecstatic. I was about to go home and fed her," TJ told him. He managed to pry JoJo's arm from around his neck. "She had babies, you know."

"Shit, really? We gotta go I want to see this," JoJo said as he pulled TJ along.

"I'll talk to you guys later," TJ called out to Vince and the others as JoJo forced him to leave.

"Bandit, Specs, we're leavin'. Duracell had babies and I wanna see."

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Bandit asked with a mouthful of food. "You had contact with us. What's your excuse?"

"I don't have one."

"Damn right you don't," JoJo said, grabbing the nearest bowl of chips. "Let's go."

**~*~V~*~**

"You're giving us one of these bunnies, dude."

"_Ten?_ That's quite a lot."

"…..Who's the father?"

The four boys sat on the floor in TJ's room with a warm blanket in the middle of the floor. The one week old bunnies laid on the blanket as the boys watched them begin to open their eyes.

"One of my little brother's friends has male rabbits and brought them over to play. They must've mated when I wasn't watching them," TJ explained. "I didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth. I had my suspicions, but didn't know for sure."

"You ARE gonna let us have one, aren't you?" Bandit asked him. "There's ten of 'em. You can spare one."

"That looks like what's going to be the case. I can't care for ten more rabbits on my own."

"Have you named them yet?" JoJo asked. Duracell has hopping back and forth between the boys and had stopped in front of him.

"No. I wanted to wait. Do you want me to right now?" Asked TJ.

"That would be nice."

"Fine. This one," He carefully picked up and white bunny with gray fur on the tips of its tiny ears and front feet. "I'm naming this one Falafel, because _you_ wanted to name Duracell Falafel."

"Damn right," JoJo laughed, reaching into the bowl of chips he stole from the party. "Next."

"This one," He said, picking up an tan bunny with gray feet.

"Has no ears," Specs told him. "It's ears are missing." TJ pulled the bunny closer to him to have a closer look. As hard as he tried to look, he found that Specs was right, and the little creature didn't have ears like it's brothers and sisters.

"…How….? What happened? Where are it's ears? Did they not grow in yet….?"

"Let me see it." TJ handed over the bunny to Specs how then looked over where it's ears should be. "This is gonna sound worse than it is, but Mommy probably bit them off."

"Why would she do that? Was she trying to eat it?"

"Oh no, not at all. Rabbits are clean creatures. Duracell must've been grooming them, but over-groomed this one in particular to the point where she accidently bit the ears off. I can see bite marks around the stubs…it'll be fine without it's ears; it's not life-threatening.," Specs explained, sitting the bunny next to Falafel to avoid getting the named ones confused with the unnamed. "I want this one, okay? This one is mine."

"Got it. Next one….," TJ said, picking up a white bunny with a tan circle on it's back. "Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal for short." He looked behind his as he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He saw Zack standing behind him, clutching his teddy bear. "Hey, Zack. Is something wrong?"

"Uh-uh. Can I name a bunny, too?" Zack asked him.

"Of course you can. I'll even let you name two of them." TJ picked him up and sat Zack down in his lap. "Everyone, this is my little brother Zack. Zack, these are my friends JoJo, Bandit, and Specs. They're nice people. So, what names do you have?"

"That one," Zack said, pointing to bunny with white fur and gray fur at the tips of it's ears and one stripe down it back. "Thing One. And that one," He point to a bunny with similar fur but with two stripes down it's back. "Thing Two, like in The Cat in The Hat. Do you like those names?"

"I love those names. Really creative." TJ moved Thing One and Thing Two over to the named group. He picked up the bunny that had the same style of fur Duracell have. "I'm keeping this one for myself, and giving it the name Energizer. My Energizer bunny."

"Freckles…." JoJo moaned, rubbing between his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"I'm naming it Energizer. _NEXT._"

"You forgot to name the earless one," Bandit pointed out.

"NORMAN. _NEXT, _let's keep it moving, people," TJ said. He picked up and all tan bunny whose eyes were open and trying to walk. "Because this is the first one who tried to move, I'm calling it Speedy Gonzales, like the mouse. Speedy for short."

"'Bout time you gave one of them a _normal_ name," JoJo said.

"…Right, this little one, the runt," He said, picking up the smallest of the group, a bunny with all gray fur. "Paprika, and that one," He said, nodding towards another gray bunny. "Bugs."

"One more," Said Bandit. "What's that one's name?"

"Pizza, 'cause of all the spots," TJ said. The last baby bunny was white with gray spots all over. "Happy?"

"No," JoJo said.

"Too bad. I'm not changing any of them."

"It's raining," Said Zack. They all look out the window and saw that it was raining, hard.

"It's gonna rain all night," Bandit said. "We should go, before it get's any worse."

"I'm not driving in the rain," JoJo told them. "I can't see shit. I'm not driving in that."

"Well we can't stay here. There isn't enough room."

"There's enough room for me, right Freckles?"

"For one person, yes," TJ said.

"Then I'll stay overnight. You two go check into a hotel or somethin'. Me and Freckles got to catch up on some stuff. Take my car, but don't hurt her."

**~*~V~*~**

"Now, do you mind telling me where the hell were you the last few months?"

"….don't curse in front of the rabbits."

After Bandit and Specs left, and Zack was put to bed, TJ put the rabbit back in their cage. It continued to rain outside as TJ lay in bed with JoJo next to him. He demanded to know why he was left to worry about his well-being without so much as a letter to reassure him that everything was fine.

"Answer my question," He demanded.

"I was busy. The judge was reviewing our case with the security video. I was acquitted of the charges. I got a job and found an apartment. That's why I didn't write any of you. Had to get myself straightened out. Good enough for you?"

"Almost. You still had me worried sick," TJ said, turning to him. "I think of you as my best friend, and to suddenly not hear from you scared me. Don't do that again!"

"I said I was sorry. I'm here now," he said, running his fingers through TJ's now brown hair. "you stopped bleaching your hair? Why? It looked good on you."

"The chemicals. I had my blind eye removed and the chemicals could irritate the socket. I'll bleach it in another week when I get a prosthetic eye."

"Damn, you had your eye plucked out? Lemme see." TJ held opened his left eyelid and showed JoJo that the eye was taken out. "Ugh. That's nasty. Close your eye, I don't want to see that."

"You asked to see."

"So? I didn't think it would look like that."

"Whatever, JoJo. I'm tired, go to sleep."

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><p><strong>I hope you all liked this chapter. It's going to be one of the least chaotic chapter for a while. Next chapter will send chills up your spine, that's what I'm aiming for.<strong>

**Please Review. **


	68. High

**Don't you wish you could just spill out your idea for the chapter onto your computer and have it come together instead of typing it yourself? That's how I feel about this chapter. I wanted to get it out as fast as I can without the actual work, but I sucked it up and did it anyway.**

**July is almost over! And that means one more month from Thursday until I go back to college. Goodie….**

**I won't announce how often this story will get updated during the semester until it after a week so I can get a feel of how much free time I'll have. So far it looks like updates could be sporadic, but I could be wrong. Until then…**

**Read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I load has been lifted off my shoulders. JoJo showed up at an after party Ashley A. was having along with Bandit and Specs. Turns out that he did write back to us in jail because he was IN jail. He was out and got his own apartment after the judge acquitted him of all the charges. He spent the whole weekend down here with me, just hanging out, doing nothing. I liked it. We did the same thing in Duval. He asked for his shades back before he left. I have to go see his apartment, one day._

_He forced me to give the bunnies names. Falafel, Paprika, Bugs, Norman, Energizer, Oatmeal, Speedy, Pizza, Thing One, and Thing Two. Weird ass names, but I'm not changing them. _

_On a more interesting note, my assignment for gym after missing a week is talking about the danger of drugs. That should be fun._

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Okay, how the hell am I going to do this? This should be the easiest assignment I could ever have, but I'm standing in front of everyone like an idiot.

…..It's stage fright, that's what it is. I don't like people staring at me like I'm the messiah and I have solutions to all their problems. This isn't the fourth grade.

"Any moment, now Detweiler," The coach said. It's Monday and I'm in gym class. To make up for being out last week, I have to give a oral report about how drugs are bad and you shouldn't do them. I do plan to talk about it, but not how they _want _me too. I have first hand experience.

"Is there a particular order you want me to go in?" I asked him. "I would explain it better if I knew there was a path of thought I'm supposed to follow."

"Start with Cannabis."

"You mean pot? I can do that," I said turning back to the class. "You all probably heard that pot is the worst drug you can ever do because, fuck, it's pot. I smoked it the first time when I was 13 years old and it felt fan-fucking-tastic. I felt like I knew the answer to all philosophy's questions and a few that haven't been asked yet. I did some when I was in Duval too. I honestly can say that pot it the safest drug out there. It's not addictive, I swear. I only did it when I was having a bad day, or if I was in pain and didn't have any aspirin. If you're going to do a drug, do pot, but do it somewhere were you can't do something stupid. Don't do anything else because shit gets crazy from there.

"Next is meth, which is one big jump. Don't do meth. Seriously don't. not even once just to 'try it out.' I did meth once…twice…three times. It was three times and it was three months apart each of those times. Never again. It's hella addictive. I sold meth, and I sold pot too, hell I sold every drug I'm going to talk about, and the people that I regularly sold it to were fucked up beyond repair. Their teeth were all rotted out, they were boney, aged about twenty years, and looked like haven't eaten in months, don't do meth, okay? Don't do meth. Don't do heroin either. It does the same shit.

"Now, you can take over the world with ecstasy. Seriously, the world is at peace when you're on it. Don't do that either, unless you're in a room, with no furniture, or glass, or hard floors. Now, LSD will calm you the fuck down. You will be so out of it. You can feel colors, and see into the fifth dimension. I did that twice. The cement floor was moving like water. That doesn't make it okay, though. It's still bad.

"Now, PCP. PCP will put a horse to sleep, but turn a human into the Hulk. I fought a guy on PCP and I almost lost my life in that fight. It's like they run on unlimited energy. I saw a couple of people who were on PCP drop dead. They would literally be walking or running and they _drop dead_. I never did PCP myself, and I'm glad I didn't. What they need to do with PCP is give it to every single solder on the front line so they can win every war in five minutes. I stabbed that guy who I was fighting two times in the thigh and he kept coming. For Christ sake, don't do PCP. Or LSD. I think that's all I got. Did I do a good job, coach?"

Hell yes I did a good job. That goes without saying.

"No, Detweiler, you didn't."

"I tried my best." Time went by fast while I was talking because the bell rang soon after. We didn't get dressed for gym because my whole speech was supposed to take the whole class. And it did. Good. I would've kept going if the coach said it had to be longer. I was on a roll. I got a text earlier from my parents asking me to pick Zack up from daycare, so I'm headed there after school. It doesn't look like I'm going to get to my next class without an interruption, though.

"We need to talk," Ashley A. Said. She pulled me out of the crowd in the hallway.

"About?"

"Us."

"What is it?"

"We can't talk here about this."

"Then it can't be that important," I said, taking her hand and walking to our next class. "You can tell me right now."

"I can't tell you _here_ in front of everyone," She whispered. "But it's an emergency. We need to talk right after school!"

"It would help if you told me about _what _we were going to talk about," I said. "I can't do it right after school. I gotta pick up my little brother from daycare and take him to his tumbling class. After that I'm free."

"Right after that. _Right after._" I let go of her hand when we reached our class. The teacher gave me a seat across the room from her when I came back from Duval.

I get a couple stares from people when they see my left eyelid down. I don't have JoJo's shades to hide it anymore. I gave them back to him before he went home Sunday.

The teacher came in and began the lecture. I was fading in and out, not paying attention. What does Ashley want, no, need to tell me? She sounded worried. Watch, it'll be like the last time she said we 'had to talk.' All she wanted me to do is sleep over her house while her parents were out of town on yet _another_ business trip. She said she was scared someone was going to break in her house and need protection. I didn't mind staying, but I thought she was overreacting. I've seen the security system the house has. A camera in every hall, room (except the bathrooms), and doorway, along with alarms set to go off if someone breaks a window or knocks down the doors. On top of that, it's not a violent town. The worst this town had ever seen was _me_, and I'm her boyfriend.

It'll be hard to convince mom and dad (more so mom) to let me stay over on a school night. Since I came home, they give me a lot of freedom that I don't think more teenagers have. They don't give me a curfew (but I'm in before 9 p.m. on most nights), or give me chores (if you don't count watching Zack, helping him keep his room clean, and cleaning both our bathroom chores). I'm not saying that I think it's a bad thing or that I'm complaining about it, it's just something I noticed. I do think we should talk more. That barely happens unless it _has_ to happen. There's a tension in the air when we're in the same room, but it's more with my dad than mom. I can talk to mom with only a little hesitation that I can break through on my own. With my dad it's like there's so much going unsaid that bring any of it up will cause a screaming war. I don't know what it is. Part of me believes that, while I was in Duval since they didn't visit me and Prickly _did_, that he took over the role of father and now I'm mad at him.

_'What you need to ask them is why they tried to replace you with that __**thing**__running around."_

'I thought you left,' I thought to Alex. He's not out where I can see him. He's in my head.

_'I never leave. I didn't leave when I was gone.'_

'That makes no sense.'

_'It makes all of the sense. You not being logical. Ask them why they had Zack in the first place. You wanted to know why. Isn't you that said they only had him to replace their other fuck up son?'_

'Back off!'

_'Hey, I'm not the one who thought it. You did. Get mad at yourself.'_

'You're a piece of shit. Leave me alone, I'm trying to pay attention.'

_'Mmm-hmm.'_

**~*~V~*~**

"TJ I got married today." Oh boy. I didn't hear about Zack and his little girlfriend for a month, and I thought it had faded away like I believe it would (and should). Thought they went back to playing in a sandbox and building castles out of blocks. But no. they were still 'together' and it turned into _**this**_. Here we go.

"Did you? To Valarie, right?" He nodded.

"I gave her one of my RingPops and asked her if she wanted to marry me and she said yes. We got married in front of everybody."

"Gee, I would've liked to have been there, Zack, to see my little brother get married."

"We couldn't wait! We wanted to get married and couldn't wait! Teacher took picture and said she would give us some next week. I'll show you!"

"Do you like being a husband?"

"Yeah. It's a lot of work though." We arrived at his class. I held open the door for him as he went inside. Right away, he joined the other kids. I sat down in one of the free seats and looked at my phone. I got a text message from Ashley asking where I was. Clingy, much? She's not a clingy girlfriend, and that's good. If she was, we wouldn't be together. I don't like clingy girls. I get if it if you like a guy, but don't let him be your entire life. Looks desperate. I texted her back, letting her know what I was doing and how soon I can meet up with her. I have to drop Zack off before I can go back out and meet her. We agreed after class to meet in the park. I'm eager to hear what the big deal is.

I watched Zack fall after trying to hold a hand stand. He got back up and tried again. Ha. Married. That's cute. I have no clue where they're getting his crap from. Whatever happened to cooties, anyway?

After his class I dropped him off at home and went to the park. I walked around for ten minutes before finding an empty bench and sitting down. I text Ashley again and she said she wasn't here but was on her way.

Next weekend I'm getting my prosthetic eye. I already been to the eye doctor so they can examine the color of the one eye I have to make sure the prosthetic has the same color. It was gross when the eye doctor took out that case of his and opened it. It was full of other prosthetic eyes. They're not as heavy as I thought.

Someone poked my arm. I looked up and saw that it was Ashley and she sat down next to me. She looks nervous.

"What do we need to talk about? What's going on?" I asked her. She didn't answer right away. By the look on her face, it seems like she's tossing whether or not to tell me back and forth in her head.

"I think I might be pregnant."

Wait…._WHAT?_

"…A-are you sure? How—"

"I missed my period. I thought I was just off by a few days but that was five weeks ago. I took a home pregnancy test and it came back positive," she said, tears coming out of her eyes. "I told my parents and they completely lost it! You can't come anywhere near my house because my dad will be there ready with a shotgun! They're taking me to a doctor this weekend to make sure."

"…Shit…shit…shit….shit….," I repeated. I ran my fingers through my hair and took a couple deep breaths. _Pregnant?_ Didn't we use protection? This is the last thing that needs to happen to us. We can take care of a baby! I can barely take care of the ten I got at home! I hope that the test was a false positive…..

"What are we going to do? What if it comes back and I really am pregnant?" She asked, laying her head on my shoulder.

"We should wait until we know for sure," I said. "Then we can think this through, and I can get in your house without the threat of death. If you're pregnant, then we'll take care of this."

**~*~V~*~**

_"I have a story to tell you. Listen up, prison whore."_

"I'm not in the mood for your crap, Alex. Go burn in a ditch."

_"No seriously, listen. I have advice."_

After Ashley A. told me about the mess that we're possibly in, I didn't go straight home. I took a walk to clear my head and ended up at the old lake. Please don't let her be pregnant. We can't take care of a baby. We wouldn't be able to afford a baby!

_"There was this man walking through the woods with his umbrella," Alex started. "Out of nowhere a bear shows up and approaches him, ready to attack. The mad loaded his umbrella, and shot the bear dead, saving his life."_

"What? That's impossible. Someone else must've shot the bear."

_"Exactly," he said. "See how this applies to you?"_

"She didn't cheat on me, asshole. She wouldn't do that."

_"I'm tryin' to help YOU out. Look at all possibilities and avoid getting tied down by some bitch and her brat."_

"Go away. Go. I need to be alone."

_"That's can't be done. I don't ever leave. I'm always in your head."_

"You know what I mean. Shoo." I watched Alex, who was sitting next to me, disappear. I could use some weed right now. If she is pregnant? I definitely would have to find a job, then. We'll both need jobs, and one of us might have to quit school.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see who it was. Ralphie. I avoided all contact with this smiling freak all last week. How did he find me here, and what does he want?

"I'm starting to believe that you don't want to be friends with me," He said, smiling with his hands behind his back. "Why?"

"Not everyone wants to be friends with you Ralphie," I snapped at him. "I'm one of them."

"That's too bad," He said. For the first time since I met him, his smile went away. It's eerie. Disturbing. Ew. Dude, put the smile back on. It doesn't look right at all. "It would be best for all of us if you were friends with me."

"I'm not being friends with you. I don't like you, in any way. You're creepy as fuck. We're not going to be friends. Get that through your thick skull." He shook his head and sucked his teeth three times. That smile of his was still off his face.

"Bad things will happen to everyone if we're not friends," Ralphie said in a sinister voice, but it also sounded sad. His smile was back on his face. "I know you're trying to have a normal life, and not being friends is working against that. But I'm not going to make you. Just giving a warning." He turned and left. That guy gives me the creeps. He thinks he can stand there and threaten _me? ME? _He doesn't know who he's threatening. I fought inmates on PCP and _won_. He can't take me. He'll be in his grave before he takes the first step forward to fight. I'm not worried about him.

I'm worried about my potentially pregnant girlfriend.

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><p><strong>Suspense? Drama? Plot twists? It's all in there. :D I hope this chapter satisfied you all. All of you are happy that the Blood brothers are back together, more so JoJo than the rest. That's good. I was on the fence about bringing them back in the story at all. Glad I did.<strong>

**Reviews are motivation!**


	69. Low

**Sometimes I feel like I should go _Fifty Shades of Gray_ on this story and publish it. Just, you know, change the characters. Then I remember that that's the easy way. If anything's worth doing, do it the hard way, or something like that. **

**I've been into CreepyPasta lately. Have anyone ever heard of it? It's good for a scare, especially at night. There's even one for Recess called "The Playground." That one's not as scary but it's good. Check it out, if you dare. :)**

**I had the weirdest dream. It was like I was watching Recess, but instead of the normal theme song, it had the Doctor Who music and when the episode started it was like Codename: Kid's Next Door. -_- Strange.**

**Read On! **

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><p>"Okay, so run this by me again…"<p>

The rest of the week crawled by at a snails pace, and the added stress from having a girlfriend that might be pregnant did not help at all. Friday had finally arrived, meaning TJ had one more day to find out if she was or not. His thoughts were only of all the possible outcomes of the situation. Having to drop out of school and get a job. Going to college was out of the question, unless her parents (his parents already have a little child of their own to take care of and supporting another would be out of the question) help them out A LOT. He had never met Ashley A.'s parents, and all he knew about them was what she told him. According to her, they were strict, and didn't have a clue to what she was up while they were away. It doesn't look like they would be leaving their home anytime soon.

He was waiting for the phone call from Ashley that would tell him it was safe to come over. He wasn't at school, because it was closed for some reason he didn't care to find out (a day off is a day off). He managed to convince his parents to let Zack stay home with him. It could be the one of the last times he could spend with his brother before a baby could arrive. He was currently upstairs, taking a nap in his bed. Meanwhile, TJ was downstairs, standing at the front door trying to understand what Spinelli was trying to ask him.

"For that contest I'm in, I have to draw one more picture. The judges decided that the subject for everyone's drawing should be nature, innocence, or happiness. I'm not too thrilled about the last two options so I picked nature. And _you _have a rabbit that had babies," Spinelli said.

"And you want me to let you draw them?" He asked her. She nodded. He looked at the large sketchbook she held under one arm, and the small bag she had in her other hand. "They're up and moving. Might be hard to keep them still."

"That's fine. As long as I know what they look like. So can I?" He stepped out of the doorway, letting her come inside.

"You came at a good time. I was about to let them out of their cage for exercise," He said, as he followed her upstairs and into his room. "You'll have to be quiet. Loud noises scare them, and they're just little babies. You don't want to scare little baby bunnies do you?"

"When did you become such a softie?" Spinelli asked, sitting on his bed.

"I'm not a softie," He said. He took a blanket out of his closet and laid it on the floor. He kneeled next to the cage and opened the door, letting Duracell hop out on her own. She made herself comfortable, plopping herself on Spinelli's converse shoes. One by one, he took the squirming baby rabbits out of their nest and sat them down on the soft blanket. Once they were all out, he bunched up the edges so they couldn't get far. "I just care about the welfare of my baby bunnies. Is that a problem?"

"No, but strange," Spinelli said. "Can you get Duracell off my shoes?"

"Yeah." He picked Duracell up and held her, and he and Spinelli switched places. He sat Duracell down on his bed, letting her hop over to where Zack was sleeping and lay down next to him. He did a head count of all the babies to make sure that he didn't miss any. They were all there, doing their best to take 'baby hops'. All of their ears stood up, except of Norman who had no ears, and weren't going to lop like their mother's ears for another week or two.

"You might want to keep an eye out for Speedy. He moves fast."

"Speedy? Oh, I get it. You named him after our old class hamster," She said, searching through her sketchbook for a blank sheet.

"Nope. I named him after Speedy Gonzales. You know, the Warner Brothers character? The little Mexican mouse. I named him that because he's the fastest out of the bunch."

"Ah. I see." He reached down and put Speedy back with his brothers and sisters. The room was silent except for the sounds of pencils rubbing against the paper as Spinelli drew and Zack's soft snores. He counted; one bunny for Bandit, one for Specs, JoJo wanted two, Zack was most likely going to have two of his own, TJ wanted to keep two as well, and he promised Mikey one. That left one without a home.

"You want one of them?" He asked her. "One of the rabbits. Want one?"

"No thanks. I have a pitbull and I don't think they'll get along," She said, not taking her eyes off her sketches. "I'd feel bad if it got hurt in my care."

"Right…..right…hey, what can you tell me about Ralphie? He's _really_ persistent about us being friends and I don't want to be friends with him. He won't get the message."

"Ralphie gets along with everyone. He wants to get along with you too. That's all. He told us that you were being an asshole about it, but didn't want us to get involved."

"I wasn't being an asshole. He doesn't get that I _do not_ want to be friends with him."

"Why? He's a nice guy."

"Because I don't want to. Do I need a reason? His smile is disturbing, him _not _smiling is **more** disturbing. If you guys are friends with him, fine, but I don't want to be. Tell him that. He'll listen to you more than me." He felt a light tug at his sleeve and saw that Zack was awake from his nap.

"I'm hungry," Zack said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "TJ can you make me a sandwich?"

"Sure. Stay here, I'll be right back." He went downstairs, leaving Spinelli, Zack, and the family of rabbits in his room. He made a peanut butter, jelly, and pickle sandwich, grabbed a juice box and headed back upstairs where Zack was watching the growing picture over Spinelli's shoulder. She didn't seem to mind. "I made your favorite sandwich, Zack."

"You got the pickles, too?"

"Of course. How could I forget?" He lifted Zack onto his bed and put Duracell on the floor. "How's the picture coming along?"

"Great," She said, showing him the picture. "What do you think?"

"That's amazing…."

_"It's a piece of shit," Alex hissed. "Burn it."_

"I think it's pretty!" Said Zack.

_"Snap his neck. __**SNAP HIS NECK.**__"_

"Thanks. I'm going to end up doing it over again. I don't like how I did the shading."

"It looks good to me. Then again, I'm not an artist, so I wouldn't know," TJ said, ignoring Alex's comments.

_"I don't give a fuck about that picture. I'm too concerned about those poor tits trapped in that bra," Alex teased. "Send the brat into his room and let the twins out. Have sex with her while you're at it. You missed your chance in Duval, here it is."_

'I didn't _miss_ my chance. There was never a chance with me and her.' He thought.

_"According to your memory banks, which I have full access to, you had a crush on her."_

'Had. _Had_. Pass tense. I haven't had feeling for her since I was eleven years old. She's dating Hustler Kid now."

_"What does that have to do with anything? You don't need to date her to fuck her."_

'Stop being rude.'

_"That's like asking me not to exist."_

'I know. Get started.'

_"I'm trying to help you to get what you missed out on and I get treated like this? Did you forget what I am capable of?"_ Ignoring Alex's newer comments, TJ thought about what he said before. Was he missing out on anything by not dating his friend?

'Possibly,' He thought. 'Look at her; she's gorgeous. I did like her, when I was younger. I stopped liking her right before I changed and did bad things, like lighting those cats on fire. I'm probably missing out on a great girl, but the one I'm with is great, too. I had my chance and I blew it. She looks happy with Hustler, anyways. Francis better not hurt her. I'll break his face.'

"Is something wrong?" Spinelli asked him, bring him out of his thoughts.

"Nope," He said kneeling down next to the bunnies and putting the back on the blanket. "Everything's perfect, except for the fact that my girlfriend might be pregnant. Besides that, my world is filled with sunshine, rainbows, and bunnies. Lots of bunnies."

"She should've stuck to dating girls," Spinelli said, unfazed by his comment. "This wouldn't have happened. No offence to you."

"Wait, what? When did this happen?" He asked her, surprised.

_"I'd like to see that!"_

"That's a good question…our freshman year I think. During the summer before our sophomore year. We sorta-kinda-not-might've kissed a couple times, but that was it. She dated a couple girls."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…._WHAT?"_

_"I'd PAY to see THAT."_

"….Did I just let that slip out?" TJ nodded. "Oops."

"Zack," TJ said, turning to his brother. "Why don't you go in your room and draw me one of your amazing pictures?"

"'Kay! I'll draw Dura and her babies!" TJ waited until Zack left and he heard the sound of door closing before going back to his conversation.

"Now, do you mind explaining to me what the hell you just said?"

"What's there to explain? I meant what I meant," She said. "But I swear to Christ if you _tell_ anyone, _**ANYONE**_, your life will end prematurely. Got it?"

"Yeah but,…why?"

"I'm allowed to be curious, aren't I?"

"But _Ashley A.? _Your mortal enemy of all people?"

"It's not like we dated or anything, and it's over now so who cares? Neither of us tell anyone anything about it. Me because I will take it to my grave, and you will too. She won't because its ruin her so-called perfect reputation, which is going to get destroyed anyways when her belly gets big."

"I still don't get how it was _her _of all people."

"And you never will."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Friday ended too fast and Saturday came too soon. Me and Ashley met up in the park again to talk about our situation. She didn't have to say anything. When I saw the tears pouring out of her eyes, I knew what she needed to say, but was too choked up to. She's crying on my shoulder, and I'm hugging her, trying to comfort her as much as I can. I can't blame her for crying. This changes everything and I'm sure her parents have been fighting over this. I'm not sure when I'll be able to come over without the threat of death from her father. He has every right to be mad at the guy who got his daughter pregnant.

_"There was this guy walking through the woods with an umbrella," Alex started._

'Shut the hell up, Alex,' I thought. 'Now's not the time for your crap.'

"What are we going to do?" Ashley cried into my shoulder. "I'm not ready to have a baby yet!"

"I don't know what we're going to do," I said, rubbing her back. "But we have to come up with something, a plan. Did the doctor tell you how far along you are?"

"The doctor said I'm only one month along," She said, sobbing.

"What did your parents say?"

"My dad won't even look or talk to me. My mom says we need to take care of this because it's our baby, not theirs. Neither of them want you near me. If they knew I was with you now my dad will have your head on a silver platter. I want them to cool off but that's not going to happen anytime soon."

"They're right, in a way. We need to figure this out, soon."

"I can't think straight. This is too much to handle right now. I just want to go home and crawl under my sheets with a bucket of ice cream….."

"You do that. We'll let this whole thing soak in and….and next weekend, we'll decide what to do. Okay?" She nodded, holding onto me. "I'll always be near my phone, if you need me. Don't hesitate to call." I walked with her until we reached the outside of the park. We waited in silence until her driver can and she left. I gave her a kiss to assure her that everything will be alright, even if I wasn't sure at the moment. I didn't go straight home. I need a walk to clear my head.

She's pregnant. My girlfriend is pregnant. If we choose to keep it, we would be parents. Parents! I'd be a father! She'll be a mother! I can't be a dad! I don't even know if I'm doing a good enough job with Zack and I'm going to be in charge of a baby? A little person who'll look to me to protect them and teach them about the world?

My feet led me to the lake I used to hang out with the others. It hadn't changed a bit. Perfect place to relax, but I'm not relaxing. I'm scared. I am. How could I raise a kid? We're not ready. We're nowhere near ready to take care of a baby. We can barely take care of ourselves.

This isn't good.

Taking a deep breath, I spotted an old and beaten up trashcan. It hasn't been raining lately, and the fallen branches around were all dry. Am I about to do what I think I am…?

Don't do it. Don't. It's not good. It's a long, slippery slope if I do.

But I need to calm down to think straight, and if there was ever a time in my life when I need to think straight, it's now.

….

It'll be small….I promise. No one's around to see anything. I'll make it quick.

I grabbed the trashcan and put the dried branches inside. I see the trashcan down near the lake and sat down in front of it, pulling out my matches. I lit on match, and tossed it into the trashcan. It took a couple of seconds for the fire to grow into the large, crackling, power source that I love.

The stress that built up to this point melted away.

Damn that's good.

It's funny, how you don't quite know how much you truly miss something until it's gone for a while, and then you have it again. It's incredible how fire makes me feel, I can barely put it into words. It's euphoric; no pain or a care in the world. The only other thing that makes me feel like this is….

…..this is going to sound _sick_…._psychotic_ even…..

But the only other thing that makes me feel like fire is when I'm sleeping with Ashley.

Sex. That is it _only_ other thing that comes close to what lighting and watching fire feels like to me.

Disturbing.

I watched the fire burn until there was nothing left for it to burn on. It flickered and finally died down. I kicked the trashcan into the water, putting out any remaining embers inside.

It helped me relax, that's for damn sure.

Brushing the dirt off my hands, I walked away from the lake and towards home.

Next week is going to be a pain.

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><p><strong>Now that I think about it, I don't think they could get away with showing Recess on TV these days. Too much censorship going on. So many references to wars and it being like a mini Hogan's Heroes in places. Parents wouldn't like that. But on a lighter note, some students somewhere did a reenactment of the opening to Recess and it's on Youtube. There's a link to it on my tumblr page if anyone's interested.<strong>

**T-Kiwi02: You've got to tell me the name of that book, I'm so curious now! And I'm glad you like Zack. I was worried about 'jumping the shark' when I put him in.**

**Please Review!**


	70. Pressure

**Alright, I have message for those reading so if you aren't too eager to get to the story below, read this disclaimer please.**

**TJ's and Ashley A.'s response to their situation, you know, teenage pregnancy, I no way reflects how I personally feel about the subject. In simpler words, I'm not using them to show what I believe should be done in their situation. I am merely typing what the characters would do, not me. Most of you are like 'yeah, we know,' but I felt it was necessary to make this clear because of the subject matter. Okay? Good. That's it. We're done. Onto the story!**

**Read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_I'm scared._

_We're scared. Ashley and I are scared. _

_This is normal, right? People in our position being scared? We don't have anyone to blame but ourselves for this._

**~*~V~*~**

Next Saturday came after a long week. The importance of their school work Ashley A. and TJ had paled in comparison to the importance of the decision they hoped they would come to on this day. Though the week went by slow, it was mostly a blur. The pregnancy was on both of their minds, causing everything else important in their lives to be put on hold. Currently, they were in Ashley A. room, with the absence of her father and mother. In his hand, TJ held a notebook, writing down all the options they could think of.

"What do we have so far?" Ashley A. asked. She was laying down, head against one of her pillows and hands rubbing her stomach. She hadn't began to show, but knowing that she was pregnant caused her to do it subconsciously.

"We have three options so far," TJ said, looking over the short list. "One, we could keep the baby and try to raise it ourselves. Two, we could choose to terminate the pregnancy. And three, we could have the baby, but put it but for adoption. What do you think?"

"It'll be hard if we kept the baby," She said, looking over to him. "Expensive too."

"And we won't be able to go to college. Finishing high school will be challenge," He said, lying down next to her. "What about our next option? How do you feel about that?"

"An abortion? I don't know, I never thought about the topic. Now I have to consider it, right? If we choose to have and abortion, we won't have to worry about having a baby, but I'll always wonder what it would've been like."

"Me too. Though a lot of people would say that it would be the best option. Considering how we both feel about have a baby, how does adoption sound? We'll get to have the baby."

"But the baby would go to another family. We'd still wonder what it would be like if kept the baby."

"Good point. Wait, what's that thing called when you give your baby up for adoption, but you stay in contact with the family and you get to stay in contact with the baby as it gets older?"

"I think that's called an open adoption. That sounds nice. We'll be able to know the baby," She said.

"It just wouldn't be with us, but with a family who _can_ take care of it."

"I don't know if I would be able to give the baby away if I hold it," She confessed. "My aunt had a baby and when I held him I didn't want to give him back. I did, but I'm not sure if can with my own baby."

"Right. It sounds like we both like an open adoption or keeping the baby ourselves," TJ said, wrapping his arm around Ashley A. "Personally, I would like to keep the baby and raise it, but it'll be next to impossible for us, so I think an open adoption would be best for the baby and us. What about you?"

"It'll be the hardest thing in the world to give the baby away, but we're not fit to take care of baby, are we? Everything is so expensive these days," She said as she traced circles on her stomach. "I heard it costs $275,000 to raise one child. One. Neither of use have a job, I had one last year, but I was let go because the economy was getting bad. I want our baby to have the best possible life. I don't think that that's possible with two teenage parents. I like the open adoption idea, but I'm afraid I might change my mind. What if I do?"

"….Then I'll get a job and take care of it. Both of you. It'll still be my baby and I'll take care of the two of you. I'm not going to ditch you if you change your mind. Is that what you're afraid of?" He asked. She nodded.

"You always hear stories about girls getting pregnant and the guy bailing out on her or saying it's not theirs. It sticks."

"I'm not going to do that, okay? If you change your mind at the last second I promise you that I'll go out there, get a job, and make sure the baby is taken care of. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I had a son or daughter and I wasn't taking care of 'em. We'll be okay, alright? Do you trust me?"

"Yeah. I trust you," She said. "How did your parents take it when you told them?"

"…I didn't. I do have to? I'll be turning 18 before the baby will be born, so I won't need their opinions about it," He said. "I'll tell them tonight. I hope they won't lose it; I'd hate to start a screaming war in there."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Me and Ashley hadn't decided one what to do, but we narrowed it down to two options. Either we'll keep the baby, or have and open adoption. It looks like we'll go for the open adoption, but I should get a job in case she changes her mind at any point during the pregnancy. I've been looking for one for quite a while, but no luck. No one's hiring. The economy went to shit while I was locked up. You'd be lucky to have any job at all.

I'd like an open adoption. We'll get to see him or her, but he or she will go ta couple who can give him or her everything they'll need. We can't do that. Not without some assistance. At the end of the day, it's her decision, and I'll stand behind her on which ever she makes.

When I got home I went straight upstairs and into my room. I took my pillows and created a circle on the floor. One by one, I let my bunnies out of their cage and set them inside the circle. If there were half as many, I wouldn't need the circle, but I can't keep track of ten hopping bunnies unless they're in an in-closed area. All their ears are beginning to lop, but are only sticking out to the sides like mini-airplanes. Sometimes I want to take one and fly it across the room like a toy airplane and make the noises. I'm not going to, but it's a funny thought. I'm keeping Energizer and Oatmeal. The rest are going to nice homes. Wonderful homes and wonderful owners.

"What? What do you all want?" I asked the four bunnies that came over to where I was sitting. I pet them before they went back to their brothers and sisters. They're three weeks old. It'll be another five weeks before they can go to new homes. Duracell looks like a giant next to them.

I heard the door opened and saw Zack come in. His arms were crossed and he was pouting. Sitting down next to me he huffed and kept his arm folded.

"What's wrong, Zack?" I asked him.

"TJ, I want a divorce!" He said, throwing his arms up. I don't get kids these days. A divorce? Is he serious? This is….I don't know what this is.

"Why? Aren't you happy being married to Valarie?"

"I did but then my other friend Suzy said she liked me too and Valarie heard her and they started fightin' and I tried to stop them but I got hit. Then they started pulling at my arms until I fell and hurt my knee. Then Valarie said I couldn't be friends with Suzy anymore but I wanted to be friends with her and Valarie got mad at me. If I can't keep my friends then I don't want to be married! How do you get divorced?" How am I going to handle this?

"To divorce someone, you have to….um…shake their hand and you both say 'now we're divorced' and that's it. But both of you have to say it."

"'Kay! I wanna play with the bunnies now!"

I waited until after dinner to tell mom and dad that I have something to tell them. I didn't want Zack to hear, so I made sure he was in bed. I found my parents sitting in the living room, waiting for me. This isn't going to be good. I should've bought earplugs. Then again, maybe when I tell them about our plan, they might calm down.

"I don't know how to say this in a positive way, so I'll just say it," I said, standing in the doorway. "I got my girlfriend pregnant."

They didn't say anything for a minute or two. Mom looked like she was about to cry, and I feel guilty for that. No one want to hear that their son got a girl pregnant before he was married to her. I'm waiting for one of them to say something before I go on and tell them that me and Ashley already have a plan.

"How could you be so _stupid?_" I heard my dad say. Nice way to keep a clear head through this dad.

"I know, right? I mean, after being a male prostitute to every other guy in juvie I should know to use protection…." I said. "If it makes your blood pressure go back down, me and Ashley are handling this."

"Oh really? And how exactly are the two of you handling this?"

"We're _hoping_ to have an open adoption for the baby. We want the baby to have everything he or she needs but we both know we can't provide that," I told him. "Is that good enough for you?"

"That's not the point. The point is you got a girl pregnant!" He yelled at me.

"Can you stop yelling, please? I'm not trying to wake Zack up," I said. "I know that. I wasn't going to tell you two in the first place. I'll be 18 before the baby is born. A legal adult. It wouldn't be any concern of yours, and it isn't now. Calm down, we're handling this. It's not like I'm asking you for support."

"Good, because we already have a young child to take care of."

"No shit. Glad we had this conversation," I said, turning away and going up the stairs. "I think it went over well." Yep. It went just like I thought it would. Perfect. I would say once it sinks in, the tension will go away, but I can't. then tension between me and my dad will always be there.

"Why were you and daddy screaming at each other?" before I can reach the doorknob to my room, I heard Zack. I turned to his room and saw him peeking outside is room and looking back at me.

"You heard us screaming?" He nodded. Crap. I didn't want him to hear us. I knew it was going to end in argument between me and dad and I didn't want to scare him.

"It's nothing. We had a little fight, but it's over now," I told him, kneeling down to his height. "We didn't mean to wake you up, sorry. You can go back to bed now." He still looked scared.

"Can I sleep with you?" He asked. I can't say now to those puppy dog eyes. I nodded, took his hand, and lead him into my room. I put him into my bed and it took him only a few seconds to doze off. I wish I could go to sleep that fast. I'm going out for a walk. Making sure Zack was tucked in, I left my room, and then the house. I'm not going to be gone for long.

I ended up at the lake, like last time. And I found myself grabbing the same old trashcan and putting dried out branches inside. I lit a match and tossed it inside.

…..

I said I wasn't going to do this again, but here I am. I could quit smoking if I did this everyday as a replacement. This doesn't cause health problems, like smoking does.

That's if you don't count mental problems. I'm beginning to feel the pyromaniac in me come back out. Last week I spent ten minutes at a time asking myself what it would be like to light certain things on fire. A bucket of fireworks, a giant pile of boxes filled with papers, a field of crops. Things that would cause a big fire. I was smirking when I thought about it.

I need to stop. This is going to grow as fast as the fire and…..

It'll turn into something bad.

I can stick to this though, right? Lighting controllable fires out here where no one can find me and putting them out when I'm done. That's safe. No one's getting burned.

"What are you doing, TJ?" Damn. Just as I say I wasn't going to get caught. I turned and saw Spinelli, Vince, Gus, Gretchen, and Mikey standing farther back.

"Nothing," I said, turning back around. "It's nothing."

"It's a fire," I heard Gus say.

"Yes it is."

"You said you were going to try and control this problem," Said Vince.

"I am. The fire isn't out of control," I told them. "It's in a trashcan, where it can't spread."

"But it's still a _fire_," Said Gretchen.

"It's not going any farther than this, I swear." I stood up and kicked the trashcan into the water, effectively putting it out. I didn't say anything as a walked past them and headed home.

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><p><strong>Ooohhh! Do we have something to be worried about over here? I believe so. :)<strong>

**I'm considering doing the next chapter in someone else's point of view. Only problem is, I don't know who to choose, so I'll let you all pick. Whose point of view should the next chapter be in? All suggestions will be considered.**

**Please Review!**


	71. Someone Else

**So my computer crashed. For the tenth time. This month. I haven't been having luck with it. I can't upload documents to update this story from my computer, but i still had one document I uploaded on the site so I got on another computer and wrote the chapter in there. So yeah. I do hope this computer gets fixed or replaced; it's getting on my nerves and I would rather throw it at the wall than deal with it any longer. **

**This chapter is in another characters point of view, because I thought it would be refreshing. I'll tell you all why I didn't pick the other suggestions at the end of the chapter. This chapter takes place on the same day as the last chapter. Last thing, I'm taking a bit of creative liberty when it comes to pyromania. Just a little.**

**Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~Spinelli's POV~*~<strong>

No matter how many times I go through this, it still hurts. It's been what, three or four years since I started this. Hurts every time, like someone sticking a red-hot needle into my skin.

"We're almost done. Just five more minutes..."

That's five minutes I'd rather not go through. I'm in the hospital, but there's nothing wrong with me. I'm here for...well, I get you can call it therapy. They're using lasers to remove the burn marks I got from the fire at the elementary school. I've got scars covering my entire right arm and the very top of my chest. I started this about two months after they healed, at it looks better than how it did before. You can't miss it, but it's even.

"There we go. All done," The therapist, Dr. Lowan said. I looked over my arm before putting it back into the sleeve of my shirt. Dr. Lowan's a woman, and that makes it more comfortable for me to tak my shirt off when needed. Better than having some old dude.

"Same time next week," I said, walking out of the room. I met mom out in the waiting room and we left. I'd come by myself, but I need someone to drive me home. I can't use this arm for entire day after the therapy. It's numb and hard to control my fingers. Luckily, it only lasts for one day. I'd hated it if it kept me from drawing.

"How'd it go, sweetie?" Mom asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Same old, same old," I said, closing my eyes. It'll be a long ride home, and I'm tired. It's only 8:30 a.m., on Saturday of all days. I should be in bed, sleeping. That's what I'm doing as soon as I get home. Breakfast can wait.

_GURR_

Looks like my stomach has other plans.

"How 'bout we stop somewhere for breakfast?" Mom offered, spotting a few restaurants down the road.

"Sounds like a plan," I said. It's only me and mom; dad's out on one of his missions. I could go for a couple stacks of pancakes right about now. With eggs. And bacon. I don't get girls who eat a piece of toast for breakfast and pretend they're full when it's obvious they're not. When I'm hungry I EAT and I'm proud of it.

I checked my phone and found I had two messages from Francis. We've been dating since we got out of Duval. He acts all tough for his customers and everyone at school, but the guy is a teddy bear. Pure sugar on the inside. You can make him melt if you say the right thing. Or at least I can. Being his girlfriend and all. Mom and Dad don't approve of him though. They say he's shady, a trouble-maker. It's the trench coat and combed back hair, I swear. Being the overprotective parents they are, they don't want me to date him, or talk to him. They don't know about his business. They'd flip their shit if they knew. Still, I date him, because he's the only guy that had the balls to talk to me when I was in bad mood one day in the ninth grade.

We pulled into a nearby IHOP and went inside. It didn't take long for us to get a seat and order food. I ordered and endless stack of pancakes.

"You're not talking to that boy, are you?" Mom asked as a texted Francis. "You know how your father and I feel about him."

"He's harmless, mom," I said, sending the message. "You never told me exactly what it is about him that you don't like. You only met him once. I knew him since elementary school."

"You knew that Detweiler boy, too. People don't stay the same like when they were little."

"Oh, c'mon! The two are completely different," I defended. "Francis never did anything bad in his life. And at least TJ is trying not to make things worse than they already are. Francis is a good guy, mom. Please don't compare the two."

"It's a shame that boy did all those bad things. He would've been a nice boy for you to date," She said.

"Francis _is_ a nice boy for me to date," I told her. "He treats me great and makes me happy. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Your safety is more important."

"I am safe around him." The waiter came with our food, ending the conversation. I don't want to talk to her about this. We can never agree about anything on the topic. It goes nowhere fast. Instead I focused on my food and what I'm going to do when I get home. I told Francis that I would meet him when I got there. Of course I'm not telling mom, she's scream and give me a lecture that I won't remember.

It took up ten minutes to get home. I skipped jumping straight into bed for walking over to Francis's house. His parents have to be loaded. He lives in a huge mansion. I got lost inside more times than I can count because of the size. His parents are seldom around, though. I only seen them once. It doesn't look like I'll be seeing them today. Only Francis's car is parked outside.

I didn't knock on the door; I pulled out the key Francis gave me to his house months ago. He said it was easier to just give me a key instead of travelling the distance from his room to the front door and keep me waiting. And I had to choke it out of him. As big as this place is, I know my way around now. I found him in the living room, sitting on the couch watching his giant screen TV.

I don't think he heard me come into the room, let alone the house.

...

I got an idea.

I'm getting him back for last Halloween.

I made sure I was quiet as I snuck up on him. I put my keys in my pocket and as I got close enough, I prepared to attack him.

But then...

This asshole turns and grabs me, pulling me over to couch so I had my back on the seat and my legs in the air. Dammit.

"What's goin' on, Spin?" He asked with a cocky grin.

"Nothing much. Just my boyfriend being an ass. The usual," I said, smiling. "What'd you call me over for?"

"Can't I just want to hang out with my girlfriend?" He asked.

"No."

"Well that's what I called you over for. I half expected you not to come, being 9 a.m. on a Saturday. Your bed is usually more important than me on Saturdays," he said, stroking my right hand. "I don't know if this matters or not, but I think you and your friends might want to know something."

"Know what?"

"Detweiler came to me the other day, which is fine in itself because he gets his cigarettes from me. But this time he bought a box a know how they have cartons of cigarettes? A box that size, but full of matches. You might want to check that out, what with his history of lighting schools on fire. Might be a concern."

**~*~V~*~**

"What do you mean he bought a box of matches?" I left Francis's place after a couple of hours. I called the guys over to my house for...an emergency meeting, I guess that's all I can call it. Seriously though, what would he be doing with a box of matches? He smokes, but do you _need_ that many? He would've saved himself the trouble by buying a few lighters. When me and the other got into my room, I told them what Francis told me. Gus, being the nervous wreck he can be at times, is the first one to freak out. Can't say I wasn't expecting it.

"That's what Francis told me, Gus," I said, laying down on my bed. "He said TJ came up to his and bought a box of them, along with his usual cigarettes. Francis thought we might be concerned."

"Of course we would be 'concerned'! He's gonna light the school on fire!" Gus yelled.

"Gus, calm down. There's a perfectly logic explanation for this, I'm sure," Said Gretchen. God I hope she's right. "Maybe he bought them to light his cigarettes."

"But do you really need that many matches for a pack of cigarettes?" Vince asked. "I'm with Gus on this one. The only thing that someone would use that many matches for is setting a fire."

"I can't believe you guys. You're al so quick to think he's doing something bad," Mikey said, defending him. "He said he's not trying to cause trouble. How about we just ask him why he bought that many?"

"Let me ask you something. If you were coming up with a plan to light a school on fire, would you tell anyone about it?" Gus asked him. Good point.

"What's with you, Ralphie?" I asked. Ralphie's standing in the corner, not saying anything. Should we even get him involved in this? This is more about us and TJ, not him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. My minds just somewhere else," Ralphie said. "Yeah, I'm going to stay out of this one. He doesn't like me, so I might make things worse. Good luck." We're going to need it.

"Alright. Lets start at his house, it's the closest and he might be there." I said. I got out of bed and headed for the door. It's taking all my willpower to not jump back in. "Are you all coming?"

**~*~V~*~**

Good thing TJ's house is right down the street. It was only a two-minute walk to get there, probably less. I knocked on the door and waited for an answer, but nothing.

"Maybe he's not here," Gus said.

"Nice try Gus. You're staying here with us," I said, knocking on the door again. Still nothing. But I did hear something knock on what sounded like glass. We looked around for where it would've come from and found Zack looking at us through the window. "Hey little man. Can you open the door for us?"

"Are you here to babysit me?" Zack asked after he opened the door.

"No, we're here looking for your brother. Do you know where he is?"

"He said he was going over Ashley's house," He said. "I wanted to come but he said no."

"Where are your mom and dad?"

"Momma went to the store and daddy is in the backyard mowing the lawn. I didn't go with momma 'cause I wanted to watch Bugs Bunny."

"Well thanks for tell us where he is, Zack. Make sure you lock the door after closing it, okay?"

"'Kay."

"Looks like we're going over miss powderpuffs house. Who's car are we taking?"

**~*~V~*~**

"Yeah, he was here," Ashley A. said, popping her gum and filling her nails in the doorway of her house. We took Vince's car over, 'cause it's more of a distance we were willing to walk, or, for me, to go at all. "He left saying he was going on a walk."

"Do you know where?" Gretchen asked her.

"The park, probably. He's always there. Think it might be all the rabbits that live there this time of year. Go look there and stop bothering me. It's Saturday!" The she slammed the door in our faces. Fucking bitch. I don't regret fighting her and going to Duval for it. Not one bit.

"Looks like we're going to the park."

**~*~V~*~**

"We're been looking around for hours. He's obviously not here," Vince said. After we got to the park, we split up to cover more ground. The park isn't large, but to make sure we didn't miss any area's we took our time looking. Three hours. Dammit. We would've ended this hours ago if he would just pick up his phone. We tried calling and texting, but he won't answer us. "Any ideas?"

"How about the lake? We haven't looked there," Gretchen suggested. Why didn't we think of that before we got here? No one goes to the lake except us, mostly due to the only way getting there is through the woods...

Let's get this over with.

**~*~V~*~**

"It's about time we found him." Once we got close enough, we could see the lake through the last remaining trees of the woods. And w could see TJ too. Thank God. I was going to give up and wait until Monday at school if he wasn't there.

...

Wait...what is he doing?

Is that...is that a fire?

"What are you doing, TJ?" Vince asked to get his attention. It worked, because he turned around to face of.

"Nothing," TJ said, turning back to the fire burning in the trashcan. "It's nothing."

"It's a fire," Gus said.

"Yes it is." Why is he acting so casual about this?

"You said you were going to control this problem," Said Vince.

"I am. The fire isn't out of control," He said. "It's in a trashcan, where it can't spread."

"But it's still a _fire,_" Gretchen said.

"It's not going any father than this, I swear." He stod up and kicked the trashcan into the water, putting it out. He didn't say a word as he walked past us and into the woods.

...Can we trust him? We said we would when we promised to give him another chance...

What are we supposed to do with this?

Do we tell someone?

"Gretchen, what do you know about pyromaniacs?" Gus asked.

"It's an impulse control disorder, like compulsve gambling, or kleptomania. They starts fires to relieve tension, or it could just make them feel good. WIth therapy it can be controlled, but...if they set one fire, even a small one, it can get out of hand fast."

"And you all think I'm crazy for being worried."

Okay, Gus, we get it.

What the hell are we gonna do?

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><p><strong>Did you all like this chapter? I think it turned out better than I thought it would.<strong>

**Let's see, I didn't choose to write in Alex's or Zack's POV because they're OC and I feel like if I did, this story would be going off the tracks. I didn't choose his parents because they weren't in the story enough to call for a POV chapter. **

**I move back to college a week from now! Where did this summer go? I have no clue, but I got farther into the story than I thought I would. Sorry it took me so long to update, my mind was in other places. I'll try to get the next chapter up in a few days. Until then...**

**Please Review!**


	72. He's bbbaaaaaaacckk

**I feel as if this story is beginning to lack that 'on the edge of your seat' drama that pulled the most of you in, which is why I made this chapter the way I did. Certain themes will be returning, in all their glory. I hope you all like it.**

**Go forth and read on!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_This is the last I'm going to do what I did today. I couldn't help myself. It was for old time's sake. And hell, everyone else was having fun._

_Why can't I?_

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

When I closed my locker I had about two seconds to avoid being knocked down by two idiots running through the halls. This is the third time this happened today so far, and first period hasn't started yet. It's the beginning of the school day.

What's with people today?

Normally people weren't alive this early and didn't have the energy to pretend other people exist. Today, they're up and messing with each other. Not with me, but others.

I'm not in the mood for their crap.

I walked past a few groups of students tricking each other with gag items like buzzers and those gum packs with the slings inside. Who still uses those? I stopped using those juvenile prank toys in the fifth grade. Right when I moved on to big boy pranks.

But if they find them to be fun, then by all means. Just don't try to fool me. It's impossible.

I'm dreading lunchtime. Spinelli and the others caught me lighting fires last Saturday. They're going to question me about it. Bet Francis told them that I bought a shitload of matches from him. I got tired of running out of them as fast as I was, so I bought a lot at once.

They're not going to believe that, are they? It's worth a shot. Now, to make up a story about lighting that fire...

I already told them about my pyromania. They're going to hop on that and assume I'm going back to my old ways.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.

It's getting harder for me to stop. I shouldn't have lit the first one. It was a slippery slope after that ONE fire. I keep telling myself that when I need to clear my head I would do anything except that. Anything. I told myself that I would go down to the kickboxing gym in town, or talk to JoJo, or listen to music, but no. I go right back to lighting the fire down by the lake because that's all I think about.

When I got to my first period class, I made sure to pick a seat away from Gretchen. I'd rather take all their questions in at once than have them sprinkled out during the day. Gives me time to come up with an excuse.

Let's see...

You would assume that people would stop all the things they were doing to each other when they came into the class, but they're not. Calm down, people. It's not like it's April Fools Day!

...

Is it April Fool's Day?

Pulling out my phone, I checked the date.

It is April Fool's day. My favorite holiday. I should celebrate.

No, I shouldn't. It'll end up getting out of control like the fire. Putting the two of them together...no.

All hell would break loose.

_"Go ahead, celebrate. Have a little fun, before that brat is brought into the world."_

'No, Alex. Go away.'

_"C'mon. One prank isn't gonna hurt anyone. It's April Fools day. You're supposed to pull pranks. Blame it on the holiday."_

'No. I'm not gonna do it. It's bad enough that I can't stop lighting fires...'

_"I'm not telling you to light the school on fire, though that would be on hell of a prank. I'm telling you to cause of mischief. Unscrew a few nails of peoples desks, put some fireworks in their lockers, pull a fire alarm! Something!"_

'For the third time, no. I'm not doing anything today.'

No matter how many times I say no to him, Alex keeps pressing me to starting doing pranks again. It's tempting to make everyone jump in fear like I promised I would when I got out on parole, but I wouldn't be right. I'd get in trouble, then that's one strike against me going back, not to juvie, but to prison to serve the rest of my sentence. I'm not leaving. I can't. My girlfriend is having a baby. I'm a year away from graduating, and possibly going to college.

I have a little brother that needs and looks up to me. I'm not ruining that because Alex is an asshole. It's not worth it. Through my next four classes, Alex wouldn't let up about the issue, giving me reason after reason to do it. I ignore him, and he gets louder, showing no sign of giving up.

I wish I was home. He doesn't say a word when I'm playing with Duracell and her babies.

I need to tell Mr. Simmons before this gets out of hand.

Before I got to my third period class, I ran into Ashley. I spotted a joybuzzer in her hand. To keep her happy, I let her use it on me, even if it didn't hurt; you become immune to that after constant use for years. It made her smile, so it was worth it.

Lunch had to come eventually. I saved myself the trouble and sat at the same table.

"You guys must have a million and one questions to ask me," I said sitting down. "Let's go. Question one."

"What the hell are you doing lighting fires?" Gus blurted out. Calm down Gus, you look like you're about to have a panic attack. Or recovering from one.

"Stress relief. It calm my nerves."

"That's great for you," He yelled. "But the rest of us are debating whether or not we should carry a fire extinguisher in our backpacks."

"You're overreacting—"

"Overreacting? _Overreacting?_ You, the person whose responsible for lighting Third Street Elementary on fire, _burning_ 20 of the students _including_ Spinelli, gets spotted lighting a fire, and I'M OVEREACTING?" Gus, take a Prozac, please.

I didn't say anything for a few minutes. I gave him a moment to calm himself down. Alright, his anger (and that little bit of fear I hear in his voice) is justified. He has the right to be pissed that I'm lighting fires. I still think he's overreacting. I don't think I'm a danger, at the moment at least. I feel as if I'm mostly a danger to myself right now.

"Why'd you by the giant box of matches?" Gus asked after calming down.

"'Cause I got tired of running out of them and I hate lighters. You can't," I paused and pulled out the single box I had with me out of my pocket. I took one match out and struck it, causing a flame to roar to life. "Do that with a lighter. You see how that _roared_ when I lit it? Lighters can't do that. I love that little roar it does." I let go of the match right as the flame reached the bottom and ended on its own.

"That's even more of a reason not to!"

"Calm down, Gus."

"The fucking psychopath is telling ME to calm down, that's rich. Well excuse the fuck out of me for panicking. I'm all wrong. I'll just have one of your antipsychotics that you forgot to take."

"You're not wrong, just overreacting. I'm not going to hurt anyone with this," I said, lighting another match. Now, I had the attention of most of the lunchroom. "It makes me feel good to watch fire. So much so that if I describe what it's like to you, all of you will find it sickening."

"Try us."

"Okay, but you're asking for it," I said, lighting my third match. "It's like the best sex you ever had, ten times over, while dropping the highest grade of acid you can find. Honestly, sometimes I would rather light fires than have sex, simply because it feels better and it's more satisfying to watch fire burn and tear its way through everything. You all fear it because of all the damage it can do but you still use it every single day. You can't live without it, but it can take your life away and keep growing. And when it's huge, it's the most beautiful thin in the world. It dances and the colors! You can be amazed at all the different colors it can be depending on what it's burning. It reminds mean of myself, like when we were younger and I was more sane, how the whole playground always depended on me to come up with some plan when things got bad, but if the situation was right I could be their worst enemy. Do you understand what I'm trying to say here?" I looked up from the sixth match I lit to see their reaction.

….

They looked horrified, all wide-eyed and mouths agape.

"It's not as bad as it seems. I had it in control up 'til now."

"So what the hell changed?" Vince asked. I shrugged.

"I've been under a lot of stress since I found out that Ashley's pregnant. It was actually the day I found out that I started again," I told them. "I was….two years…sober. Sober is the only word I have. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to stop on my own. Last time I stopped I had something to distract me."

"What was it?" Gretchen asked.

"I started prostituting," I said, thinking back. "Made a lot of money that way. Faster than dealing drugs. But, yeah, I'm not doing to light the school on fire. "There was a moment of silence before one of them spoke up.

"You said that the last time," Mikey said quiet.

"Before what?"

"Before you lit the elementary school on fire. Then it happened on the same day," Gus said. "How are we supposed to trust you?"

"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm only answering your questions," I told them as I stood out of my seat. "I'm not lighting the school on fire, okay? No reason to worry." I left them behind and walked back into the hallway. Passing a trashcan, I reached inside and pulled Randall out without saying a word. Why doesn't he have better hiding spots? Isn't that like rule number one or two? I dragged him outside of the school to my usual spot where I smoke. No one's around, that's why I like it.

"Any information on Ralphie yet?"

"Not much. Only that his family moved around a lot when he was younger. Living here was the longest time he stayed in one place," Randall said. "Before, he only stayed in one place for about 6 months. Weird. I'm searching for more information, but I feel like I'm running in circles."

"Why would you need to move around that much?" I mumbled. "What does his parents do?"

"Dad is an accountant, Moms a nurse, nothing out of the ordinary, or would warrant moving around that much. I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything else. This is all I have."

"Thanks. A couple things, though."

"What?"

"Do you want a bunny? My rabbit had babies three weeks ago, and I'm giving them away except two. I have one left over and I need to find her a home."

"I'm not really good with animals—"

"At least come meet her. She's extra friendly. You might like her."

"If you say so. But I'm telling you, I'm not good with animals," He said. "They attack me. Spinelli's dog bit me one time. I'll come over on Friday. I'm busy until then."

"Trust me. She's gonna love you. Last thing, I need you to tell me where I can find a screwdriver, into the biology lab, and the girl's locker room. "

~*~V~*~

Picking Zack up, I tossed him into the air, caught him, and began to tickle him, sending him into a fit of giggles. He came home from daycare looking a bit upset, so I wanted to cheer him up. I laid him down on my bed and kept tickling him, keeping that smile on his face. I laughed along with him, having as much fun as he is.

….

I could do this. If I had a kid of my own, I could do this. I love moments like this, making him happy.

I should have a baby this soon, though. I should only have moments like this with Zack, because he's my brother, not my child.

"Zack, do you mind telling me why you were sad when you came home?" I asked after we both caught our breath and were sitting on the floor.

"Valarie doesn't want to be friends with me anymore 'cause I divorced her," Zack said, sadness returning him. "She's mad at me."

"I'm sorry Zack. Maybe she needs space right now. She might be your friend again one day."

"But I don't want her to be mad at me! And I don't wanna be married either!"

"All you can do is waiting Zack. It's hard, but there's nothing else you can do." He folded his arms and pouted. This situation with him has gotten out of hand, but it seems to be coming to an end.

Hope he doesn't get 'remarried' until he's 25.

"Cheer up, Zack. It'll get better soon."

"I hope so. Can we play with the bunnies now?" I nodded and went to let the rabbits out of their cage. All their ears have lopped, but they are still small. They each fit comfortably in the pal of my hand. Duracell looks like a giant next to them and she's a small breed of rabbit. I have to keep a quick eye on Speedy. He hops so fast it's unbelievable. Yesterday I let them out, and he ran for it. It took an hour to catch him. Each time I got close, he lived up to his name and avoided me. He stopped when he ran into Zack's room and landed in a case of watercolor paint Zack was using. Had to wash the colors out. He stays still when he's wet.

While I watched Zack play with Thing One and Thing Two, his rabbits, I thought back to the second half of the school day.

~*~FLASHBACK~*~

"Hold on, don't go there," I said, pulling Theresa away from the door to the locker room.

"Why not?" She asked.

"'Cause I'm looking out for you, that's why," I said, looking over her for Ashley, Spinelli and Gretchen. When they came over, I pulled them aside too. "It'll only be for a minute, promise."

"What's this all about?" Spinelli asked. "We gotta get dressed before the bell rings. The coach is a dick if everyone's not out here on time."

"Only for a _minute_. Just be patient." They didn't have to wait a minute. Twenty seconds past and as they were beginning to lose their patience, screams were heard from the locker room and the girls came running out. I laughed. The girls looked at me with questioning expression. "Don't look at me like that. I saved you all the hassle."

"TJ, what did you do?" Spinelli asked, using her thumb and index finger to rub her forehead.

"All I did was put frogs in their lockers," I said, putting on the most innocent look I could. "You girls overreact over everything…..I'm celebrating the holiday. Harmless fun. I didn't put one of those frogs that could kill you by just looking at you."

I walked away from them, satisfied with my 'stunt'. Gym went by fast. I wanted to get to my next class. I sat in my desk and watched everyone else come in. Class stared just like it does every day. Teacher stands up, writes on the board and begins the lecture. Ten minutes into the class, I heard the creeks of the chairs. Five minutes later, their chairs began to collapse one-by-one, minus my chair and Ashley's. Don't want to hurt a pregnant lady. I unscrewed a few crucial bolts to their desks, but in a particular way. When they fell, how the chair collapses, they're stuck and can't get out.

And it's funny as hell.

~*~END FLASHBACK~*~

"_See? You have fun when you listen to me," Alex hissed. "You should do it more often."_

'I shouldn't have done it today,' I thought. '…you're right, though. It was fun.'

"_And what's wrong with having fun? You have that right."_

'It was for April Fools day only.'

"_Can you sit there and tell yourself you can contain this for one day of the year? Honestly? Don't forget how fucking hilarious to watch those pranks go through….and to watch them __**suffer**__ too."_

'Shut-up! They weren't suffering, and if they were, I wouldn't enjoy it. I don't enjoy watching people suffer.'

"_Bullshit, Detweiller. You did it all the time before you were sentenced. Remember the revenge prank with the rats and roaches and explosions and fireworks? They were all suffering and you laughed your ass off. Just like today."_

'You're a sick bastard, Alex.'

"_Coming from you of all people. I'll leave the little psycho alone with his thoughts." _And with that, Alex disappeared.

….I didn't make them suffer. Harmless pranks, no one was hurt and I had fun. That's all I want to do: have fun.

My definition of fun.

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><p><strong>Looks like trouble is brewing.<strong>

**I start school next Monday! I'm going to be exhausted with classes for me running from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Good thing that's only Mondays. Not sure when the next update will happen but it will.**

**Please Review!**


	73. Chapter 73

**I was too lazy to come up with a name for this chapter, and I apologize. **

**It's hot. Very, very, hot. And that would be fine; it was hot all summer. But I didn't have to go outside for longer than ten seconds. Now I have to march to class, in the heat, up a hill. And we have no AC in my dorm, just fans. The horror. It'll start to cool down after another week, but I want it now.**

**Read On!**

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><p>"What about him?"<p>

"…Nope."

"Him?"

"No."

"That guy over there, the green-eyed curly blonde with the dimples?"

"….cute, but still no."

To ease his girlfriend's fears of him rebelling and getting in trouble, TJ made a point to put those fears to rest. Ashley A's fears were justified after the pranks he pulled last Monday brought up memories of those he pulled before he was taken away to Duval. Having his _pregnant_ girlfriend worried and stressed was unacceptable for TJ, and he made it a goal to rid those problems from her mind. His reasoning was that stress was bad for the baby (and the mother), and Ashley being only 17 was bad enough.

He surprised her by showing up on her doorstep, offering to take her out on a picnic Saturday afternoon. He brought Zack with him because he hadn't taken his little brother out anywhere for a while. They picked a spot in the park to sit down that was close enough to where TJ could see the playground where he let Zack play with the other children.

Meanwhile, the couple sat on their blanket on the grass. Ashley A. pointed out random males passing through the park, asking her boyfriend what he thought about them.

"How about him? The one walking the Siberian Husky?" She asked, pointing across the park.

"He's….handsome, but I personally don't like redheads," He said. "That's just me being picky."

"Oh, so you have a _type_," She said, biting into her PB&J sandwich. "What exactly is your type?"

"…I don't know! Why are you so curious? I'm with you!"

"Because I'm curious that's why," Said Ashley. "Go on. What do you look for in a man, Mr. Detweiler?"

"….Not sure. He has to be independent, that's a must. No clingy guys. Or girls. Has to have his own thing going on. Strong too. Not stronger than me, but more like equally strong. Like if we got into a fight, it would always be a tie. Smart, only a couple inches shorter or taller than me, he's got to be someone I could just hang-out with and relax and doesn't have a stick up his ass. And, he has to able to set me straight when I get a little crazy. I'm not asking for a lot am I?"  
>"You're not asking for anything, because you're already with me." She joked. "No, I don't think that's a lot. Ever been with a guy like that?"<p>

"That depends on what you mean by 'been with.'"

"I mean have you ever dated a guy like that?"

"No, but…..I might've _slept_ with a guy like that a couple times. Nice guy, great friend. Kind of quiet and keeps to himself, but I liked that too. So tell me, what's your type?"

"I always fall for bad boys, you know that, don't you?"

"Yep," He said with a goofy grin.

"I want them to treat me nice, but it's like the whole bad boy thing comes with being a complete jerk. Except you."

"Maybe you should find another type. A nice guy."

"Yeah, but nice guys don't have a backbone….I love that they treat girls with respect and don't talk shit about them, it's sweet and that's how guys _should_ treat girls. At least the good girls, not the manipulative, bitchy, cruel, disrespecting girls. There's just something that bad boys have that good one's don't. The thrill of 'changing' the bad boys is what I think it is. It's the whole, 'he's a jerk, but I'm going to be so important to him that he'll change for me,' when it should be 'I know that I'm important enough that I don't deserve the way he treats me and I deserve much better.' Girls want a nice guy, but they want to mold him from a bad boy, and that's not possible, not at this age, and probably not ever."

"….You need to give that speech to every single female out there," TJ said rubbing the back of his head. "You made so much sense just then."

"Thanks, but they'll go back to the bad boys, and learn their lesson the hard way," She sighed. "You're a nice guy."

"But you only wanted to date me in the first placed because I was bad."

"And now you've changed. Though you did give me and everyone else a scare with what you did on Monday," She mumbled.

"It was April Fools day! What did you expect? It's my favorite holiday and I was celebrating accordingly. I didn't even get in trouble."

"All you did was give everyone who went to Third Street with you a heart attack….."

"I'm sorry. I am, really. Do you forgive me?"

"….Yeah, I forgive you. I can't stay mad at a face full of freckles," Ashley said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Have you thought about what you want to do with the baby?" He asked. "Are we sticking to an open adoption?" She nodded.

"It's best for the baby. We're not ready for one," She said. "At least with the open adoption we'll see how he or she grows up. I told my parents and we're going to start looking for family's that want to adopt and you're coming, too. I had to convince my dad to let you near me and to get rid of his shotgun while you're over. 10 am next Saturday, okay?"

"Okay. Hope they're good families out there. We need to be picky as hell when choosing one….."

"TJ," Zack shouted as he ran towards the couple. "Can I have some ice cream?"

"Sure, but I don't have any ice cream," Said TJ.

"Ice cream truck," Zack said, pointing to a white truck with colorful pictures and playing music.

"I didn't see that….okay, ice cream," He said, getting onto his feet. "Want anything, Ashley?"

"A Mr. Fudgy Bar, please," She asked.

"No problem. Let's go Zack," TJ said. He lifted his brother up and onto his shoulders. HE walked over to the ice cream truck and to the back of the line of small children. When he reached the front of the line he bought a single scoop vanilla ice cone for Zack, a Mr. Fudgy Bar for Ashley, and a Rocket Bar for himself.

"Thank you," Zack said, licking his ice cream.

"You're welcome," he told him. When they two of them reached Ashley, they sat back down and TJ handed her the ice cream. "You were lucky. The ice cream man said that was the last one."

"I love these," Ashley said, opening the wrapper. "Remind me to by a case load of these things."

"Having cravings already?"

"You bet. I ate ice cream and pickles yesterday. It tastes better than you think," She laughed. "It's weird. Women in my family usually have mild pregnancies with little problems. I don't remember my mom eating weird food when she was pregnant with my sister or my aunt when she was having twins. I could use those abilities. But I haven't gotten morning sickness yet, and I'm not looking forwards to it."

"Your dad is going to kill me if I ask to move in so I can help take care of you when it gets hard for you to move around much," Said TJ.

"He'll let you move in as long as you have a job to help pay the medical bills," Said Ashley. "It came up a couple days ago when we were talking. He said, and these are his words now, might want to cover Zack's ears."

"Nah, he's knocked out. Deep sleeper," He said looking down at Zack who was now asleep and whose head lied on TJ's lap.

"Okay, my dad said 'the only way that horny bastard is setting foot in his house is if he has a job. He's not living under MY roof for free after getting MY daughter pregnant.' That's as far as I managed to get with him that day. My mom's more open to the idea 'cause she wants you to be there on hand to take care of me. You might want to play it safe and get a job…."

"I'm looking, I really am, but no one is hiring in this economy," He said. "They're hiring a couple towns over, but can't get there unless I have a car, and I can't afford a car unless I have a job. It's a vicious cycle of unproductivity. I'll tell you as soon as I get a job, I promise."

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

I walked Ashley home; I don't have a car to drive her there. It's not hot out yet. It's the perfect weather that only lasts for a couple of days each season. I carried Zack as we walked. He fell asleep right after eating his ice cream. I guess that's better than a massive sugar high then crash. Every now and then he'll stir and snuggle deeper into my shoulder, but won't wake up.

"_KILL HIM."_

"No, Alex. I'm not hurting Zack. Give up."

_"SNAP HIS NECK. It's easy to snap a three year olds neck, and this one is sleeping."_

'I wish I could snap _your_ neck,' TJ thought. 'What the hell do you have against my brother, huh? What did he ever do to you?'

_"He's only here because your parents wanted to replace you, don't you forget that. He's your replacement, a substitute, the son they __**really**__ wanted that you couldn't be. They didn't even bother to tell you about his existence. Why do you think they waited this long? Why do you think they never visited? They were giving all their love and affection towards him, because he's more important to them. This little fucker is why your parents didn't visit you in juvie, or in the hospital when you tried to kill yourself."_

'Don't talk about him like that! You don't anything about him or my parents, so shut your mouth!'

_"You have those questions though, right? Why would they have him when they already have two children? They weren't exactly young when they had him, so why'd they bother themselves with another child? Because they wanted to try again with a new son, and not the failure behind bars."_

'I don't know why they chose to have him, but that doesn't matter. He's here now, am I'm taking care of him. That's what matters.' I then felt something poking his shoulder.

"TJ a car is following us," Zack said drowsily. I turned around and saw a small black car slowly following them. It took a moment, but he recognized it as JoJo's. I stopped and faced the car, and it stopped and parked in front of the brothers. The passenger's window rolled down, showing JoJo sitting in the driver's seat. Hmm, haven't seen him in a while.

"What's goin' on, Freckles?"

"Nothing much, just going home," I said. "Are you stalking me in your car?"

"No. I was goin' over to your house and I saw you walkin'. Want a ride?" JoJo offered.

"Yeah, thanks." First, I opened the back down and helped Zack get in, fastening his seat belt. I got in the front passenger seat and JoJo started driving again. "So what are you doing here? I haven't seen you or the others in weeks…."

"I want my rabbits, Freckles," JoJo half threatened.

"They're not ready yet. They're only a month old. They have to be able to eat only pellets and hay, and that won't happen for another month or so. I'm not holding them hostage. I'm taking good care of them. They have their own personalities, too. Your two, Falafel and Paprika, are complete opposites. Falafel is chill, she's the only one that stays put while the others try to escape. Paprika takes the first chance she has to escape every time. Catching her is no problem, though; just rub your hand in something sweet smelling and she'll hop to you." I paused for a second to look in the back seat. Zack had fallen asleep.

"That's nice, but came for more important things. Is your brother sleepin'?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay. Listen, 'cause this is so important that I do not have time to repeat myself," JoJo said, his tone suddenly turning serious. I had only heard that tone once before in juvie, when that ass Tommy Gun forced me to work for him, and JoJo had gotten mad at _me_ for it. "You need to keep a close eye out for Tommy Gun. This bastard got out on parole, and that only proves how fucked up the system is. I'm telling you this because of the little man in the backseat. Keep your brother out of sight of Tommy Gun. I don't think I need to tell you why. I don't know if he's looking for you, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Right." The two of us spent the rest of the ride in silence. After JoJo pulled up to my house and parked, I picked up and carried a still sleeping Zack. "You coming in?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on," JoJo said, getting out of his car. "I was lookin' for my phone. What are we doin' today, Freckles?"

"When I get inside, I'm letting the bunnies out for exercise. Zack should wake up in a half hour or so, and he'll want to play with Thing One and Thing Two. You're welcome to stay as long as you want. I don't have much to do today. I took my girlfriend out for a picnic right before you showed up."

"Oh shit, you got a girlfriend?" I nodded.

"We've been dating for….three months now. And now she's pregnant, but we're going to take care of it."

"Didn't all the self-selling teach you anything about protection? I want to know how you're going to take care of this."

"I'll tell you inside, after I put Zack down."

"HEY FRECKLES!"

…

That voice…..

I know it from somewhere..

….

Tommy Gun?

I had to turn around to be sure, because I was praying that it was just my mind being asshole playing a sick trick on me. On the sidewalk in front of my house, in all is smugness, is Tommy Gun. Same slicked back hair, same cocky grin, new clothes, but it's him.

"JoJo," I whispered. I tone is most serious it has ever been in my short life. "Take Zack. Take him in his room; it's right across from mine. Somewhere on his floor is a purple teddy bear. Make sure he's sleeping with it. He'll wake up quick without it. Then go in my room, go into my closet, there's a box on the top shelf, and open it. There's something inside, and when you see it, you'll know what I want you to do from then, okay?" He nodded. I carefully gave Zack to him, and watched him carry my brother into my house. When the door closed and Zack was out of sight, I turned back around faced Tommy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted at him. "How did you find me?"

"I have my ways," he said in a too calm voice. He took a few step forward and I clenched my fists, ready to fight him off he didn't leave on his own. "What's going on, Freckles? You stopped bleaching your hair…."

"Yeah, _so?_" I snapped.

"I liked it. You were cuter with the blonde. Shame you stopped…."

"What do you want, pervert? Why are you here?"

"I can't come and see my favorite Scrub?"

"No. Get the hell away from here! You're not wanted in this town!"

"Aww, Scrub, that hurts me. It really does," He said getting closer to me. "After all this time you don't miss me, too?"

"No I don't. _Leave_." He laughed.

"I came all this way to see my favorite Scrub and I'm not leaving until I get what I want," Said Tommy. He kept walking and only stopped when he was right in front of me. I got a close view of the smirk on his face.

Next thing I knew, his lips were pressed against mine and arm wrapped around my waist.

I didn't waste a second. I tried pushing and punching him off, but this guy is built like a brick house. I can't get him off of me. A minute passed before he broke off his kiss. Then he whispered in my ear….

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your brother?"

Those nine words gave me the strength I need to get him off of me. I landing a swift left hook on his jaw and he landed flat on his ass. I was so full of pure rage I was shaking and I clenched my fist so tightly I feel blood trickling from where my nail were piercing my skin, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Whatever rationale I had flew out the window as I jumped on him and started punching him over and over, ignoring the growing pain in my fists. I only aimed for his face. I needed to wipe that smug grin off his face. I don't know when, but blood started to flow from his face. I couldn't stop myself. He wasn't going to get away for suggesting what he did. If this kills him, I wouldn't regret it.

Someone pulled me off of him, but I was twisting to get out of whoevers grasp it was to keep beating him. I got free, and continued to beat that sick pervert into the pavement.

"TJ STOP!" I paused long enough to look around. Stand around were Spinelli and the others. They must've been the ones that tried to pull me off. I looked down. In one tight fist was the collar of Tommy's shirt. My other fist was up in the air, ready to land on his jaw like the many before. Both of them were dripping with blood.

Taking slow deep breaths, I go onto my feet and let go of his shirt. Tommy coughed and spit out blood as he got on to his feet. Through the blood, he grinned. I lost it again and attacked him, throwing punches. Vince and Mikey pulled me off of him. When I saw that grin returning to his face I could barely stop the rage from building up again.

"Let me go," I said calmly. I pulled out of their grasp, and resisted the urge to keep beating Tommy.

"You okay?" Gus asked him. How dare he ask if _he's_ okay?! No! He shouldn't be 'okay'. He should never be 'okay'. Perverts like him need to be hanged publicly!

"M'fine. I'll see you later, _Freckles,_" Tommy Gun said. He winked at me before walking down the street with a bloody nose and mouth, and missing teeth.

I don't need this shit now!

"So now you o around beating the crap out of random people?" Vince asked. I could hear the anger, and some frustration in his voice.

"None of you know anything about this. All you know is what you saw when you got here. Mind your business," I said, walking back to my house. I have to wash the blood off my hands and change clothes. "Stay out of this."

"You can't stand there and tell us to stay out of this! Who's to say you won't beat the shit out of some unfortunate person at school?" Gus asked.

"Gus, I am begging you with _every fiber of my being,_" I said. I didn't face them, or look their way. I stayed where I stood with my voice as calm as I could get it with rage flowing through my veins. "_**Stay out of this**_. You have no idea **WHO** that guy was, **WHAT **he has done to me, and what he's capable of doing now." With that, I went inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, first week of school is over. It's safe for me to say that updates will definitely not happen as often as they used to. I need to get into a routine, and it promises to be quite a busy one. I have six classes, three of which are English classes, one foreign language, a science, and political science. Busy load. <strong>

**Sorry dear readers, it appears update will be sporatic. Life comes first. Until then,**

**Please review!**


	74. Headaches

**I choose to make this chapter and the last into a two parts, with this being part two. Along with that, I gave the last chapter a name! But I'm sure most of you aren't in a hurry to go find out what it is, and that's perfectly reasonable. I wouldn't.**

**Read On!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_Today was confusing. One minute I'm happy from spending time with Ashley and Zack, the next I'm enraged and trying to kill Tommy Gun._

_How does he know where I live?_

_The next minute…I'm as happy as I was with Ashley, and I don't know what to make of it._

**~*~V~*~**

"You alright, Freckles?"

I stormed into my house, nearly knocking JoJo over when I opened the front door. I slammed it shut and headed upstairs and for the bathroom. I stopped to peek inside Zack's room, he's still sleeping. Good. Seeing the blood on my hands I walked into the bathroom and washed it off. In the mirror, I saw that there were a few splatters of blood on my t-shirt.

"Freckles?"

_"WHAT?" _I snapped at JoJo. He stepped back in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, JoJo. Tommy has me all riled up. I'll be in my room in a minute." He nodded and left the bathroom for my room.

I have a feeling that the world doesn't like me. I thought I got rid of Tommy when I left Duval, but then I have to deal with Ralphie. I haven't heard from him in long time, but I don't know if that's a good thing. Now Tommy is back. Who let him out of prison?

I took off my shirt and tossed it into the laundry basket. My jeans miraculously didn't get blood on them. I went back into my room without a shirt. JoJo was sitting on the floor, next to the cage. He somehow managed to get Falafel and Paprika out of the cage without having to take out the others. Real talent. I found a white t-shirt and put it on before I sat down next to him an started to take the other rabbits out the cage for exercise.

"You okay, Freckles?" JoJo asked, not looking up at me.

"I'm fine. Tommy isn't though. I think I broke his nose. I was aiming for his jaw but missed terribly," I said as I put Duracell down. "I'm more worried about Zack. If he was able to find where I live, then what else is he capable of?"

"It'll be alright. Just keep an eye on your brother; everything will be okay," He said. "C'mon tell me more about your girlfriend. When did you two start dating?"

"About a week after I came home. I didn't want to date her; I didn't want to get too into the social scene of high school. I went out with her once to get her to stop asking. We went roller skating and to the movies. We took Zack and his 'girlfriend' too. It was more fun than I thought it would be, and I asked her out again. She surprised me. I know her from elementary school, and the last impression I had of her wasn't very good. She's smarter than what she puts on. Nothing like the 'dumb blonde' stereotype. She could be a politician one day. I'd vote for her. But she wants to be a fashion designer, and if that'll make her happy, then I'm all for it."

"You like her a lot?" I nodded.

"She's the first girl I've been with, but I can't ask for a better girl."

"It's not like you _dated_ a guy either…."

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. I like guys and girls, I was going to end up with one or the other. Why are bringing this up?" JoJo shrugged.

"No reason. Are you two having a boy or girl?"

"I dunno. She's only a month and a half along. You can't know this early, right? We haven't discussed if we would _want_ to know. We're planning for an open adoption."

"That's good, not that I don't think you can't take care of a baby. You're taking responsibility, and that's the important thing. We gotta spend more time together Freckles. This is the second time I saw you. We used to be like this," he paused to cross two of his fingers. "We've been through some shit together. People like that don't stop being friends."

"Right. I'll try to find time. I have to get thing sorted out. School, Ashley, Zack…..I have to get my driver's license, possibly a job…" I trailed off. Since when is JoJo so concerned with what I'm doing with my life? As long as I'm not doing anything stupid or that could kill me, he doesn't care. Much.

I hope Tommy Gun isn't going to press charges. That would be one strike out of three that would send me back to jail. I'm justified in beating him up. He was threating my brother and I promised I would protect him at all costs. I'm in the right, here.

Tommy is fucking crazy, he's not going to press charges. He wanted to see me get upset and I was stupid enough to fall for it. I was wrong in that.

Next time, walk away. Only beat him into a pulp if absolutely necessary.

Me and JoJo sat in silence as we played with the bunnies. His two want all his attention. The others hopped around us and played with each other. I watched as the earless Norman scratched himself and almost fall over doing so. That happens each time he scratches. The others don't have that problem. I added to the ever long list of things to do to take them to the vet. It would save me a lot of trouble if the vet could come here. Taking Duracell was no problem; that's one. I'd be moving ten more. I need a car to take them.

I'll call and see if I can have the vet come here instead.

"They like you," I said when I saw JoJo's two bunnies licking his hands. He laughed. Soon they left him alone and played with the others.

"JoJo—" I didn't get to finish what I was saying. A pair of lips touching mine cut me off. What the…what is he doing? I don't know but I can't help my eyes from slowly closing. I felt his fingers go through my hair as he pulled me closer to him. I didn't push him off, because I didn't want to.

It…it's not the first time I kissed him…

Yeah it is. It's the first time. We've gone further than this. I…we had sex a few times, when we both needed release and there was no one around. But we made it a rule not to kiss.

I'm regretting that rule, now. This kiss feels amazing.

I feel his arm wrap around my waste and I wrap mine around his neck and we pulled each other closer.

…Why is he kissing me in the first place? He told me, in the most extensive way I think is possible, that he's not into guys. That the possibility of it never crossed his mind.

Either way…..

I'm with Ashley now. I can't do this.

I took my hands from around him and lightly pushed him off, breaking our kiss.

"Why did you kiss me?" I asked him. I couldn't look up at him.

"…..I wanted to," He whispered. "For a while."

"But aren't you—"

"I don't know. I'm not sure anymore. I'm sorry for doing that, but….I had to see. I should probably leave…."

"No, don't leave," I said, pulling him back down. "This is happening too fast. Are you saying you _like_ me?"

"A little bit, I think. I'm not sure," He said, running his fingers through his dreadlocks. "It's confusing. After you left Duval, that's when I started feeling like this. I don't know what to make of it. I know you just told me a minute ago about your girlfriend and how muh she means to you but I had to kiss you, just to see. I'm sorry, Freckles."

"You don't have to apologize, JoJo. I don't blame you. But we can't be together. I'm with someone, someone I like." JoJo slowly nodded.

"I have to go," he said, getting up. I didn't stop him this time. He petting his bunnies before leaving the room, and then the house.

Shit just keeps piling on my shoulders, doesn't it?

What am I going to do? I feel guilty for telling JoJo I can't be with him. Why? I never looked at as more than a friend. I consider him attractive psychically, yeah, but I haven't given the thought of us in a relationship. I always believed he wouldn't be interested anyways. Last time I checked, he was only into girls. And he's not my type!

_ "…Not sure. He has to be independent, that's a must. No clingy guys. Or girls. Has to have his own thing going on. Strong too. Not stronger than me, but more like equally strong. Like if we got into a fight, it would always be a tie. Smart, only a couple inches shorter or taller than me, he's got to be someone I could just hand-out with and relax and doesn't have a stick up his ass."_

Damn, that's JoJo in a nutshell. Do I have feelings for him?

He's my best friend. We've been through hell and back together. I'm the only one that knows he's scared of thunder, and he's the only one that I've told about Alex, aside from Mr. Simmons. We slept together on more than one occasion. Hell, he's the one I lost my virginity to.

Better him then some other guy I didn't know.

He has amazing eyes. I saw them once, but his eyes are beautiful. I didn't know eyes could be that bright and clear. And that gap tooth of his is adorable.

Alright, I have SOME feeling for him that I didn't know until he kissed me. I'm with someone. I'm with Ashley, and I like her. I don't plan on breaking up with her any time soon.

JoJo did say he wasn't sure about his feelings. This could be a one-time thing.

"What do you think?" I asked Duracell. She sat comfortably in my lap. The others have calmed down and were sitting down close around me. "I think I should find Tommy and punch him some more to let out my emotions, by punching him again. For an hour. Or two." My answer was her licking my hand. "You don't care at all…."

My phone rang. Reaching over my bed I picked it up. A text message. That's weird. I don't recognize the number. What does it say?

_You're making a big mistake. This is your last chance to change your mind._

A threat? If this person was going to threaten me then they need to have the balls to let me know who they are. I closed my phone, and tossed it back on my bed. It rang again. I wanted to ignore it, but my phone kept going of every few minutes as I got new messages. Reluctantly, I pick it up again and checked.

_Don't ignore me._

_If you don't do what I want, you have no idea how much worse things can get._

_I can be your worst nightmare._

Some threat this is. Threats are supposed to scare you into doing what they want. Whoever this is isn't making clear what he wants. Or she wants.

Smells like Ralphie.

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought me out of my thoughts. I have to go answer the door. Can I leave the rabbits alone for a few seconds? All lose wires are put away where they can reach them, they're all calm and not running around….it'll only be a second. I put Duracell down with her kids and ran downstairs to the front door. I opened it and was met with Randall standing at my front door. Oh, right. I asked him to come over to see if he wanted to keep Pizza.

"Wow, you actually came. I didn't think you would," I said, leading him upstairs.

"I wasn't, but I came across some information about Ralphie," Said Randall. "I don't know if it matters, but it might to you, so I came."

"Here she is," I said as I picked up Pizza. She squirmed a bit, but I held her close to my chest to avoid accidently dropping her. "Want to hold her?"

"She doesn't look like she wants to be held…"

"No, she just doesn't like me. She'll like you; she a nosey little thing, finding her way into my backpack and closet."

"If you say so," He said. I carefully handed Pizza over to him, and she calmed down almost instantly.

"See? She likes you already," I said, noticing Pizza chewing and tugging at his shirt. "She never does that with me. Now, what is that you want to tell me about Ralphie?"

"I found more information about his family and him. He has an older brother that's three or four years older. I couldn't find much, but what I did find is that his brother committed some crime as was sent to Duval. You might know him."

"I doubt it. I didn't know a lot of people in Duval. Only a handful," I said. "Do you know his name?"

"I forgot. It begins with a T. Timothy, Taylor, Thomas….something along those lines, but I'm sure it began with a T. Know anyone whose name began with a T?"

"I do, but we went by nicknames in there. No one called me TJ, they called me Freckles. It was an unsaid rule in the guy's dorms. His nickname began with a T, but that's not his real name. What else?"

"Ralphie has gotten in a shit load of trouble before moving here. He puts all the things you used to do to _shame_. Minus the fire starting. That could be why his family moved around so much. It's weird because he hasn't gotten in trouble since moving here. The occasional detention, yes, but nothing like before he came."

"I haven't heard from him in weeks. It's been nice not seeing his smile," I said sitting down on my bed. "So do you like her?" He nodded.

"She's kind of cute. What's her name?"

"Pizza, 'cause of all the spots. Do you want her?"

"I'll take her. She loves me already, see?" I looked down to see Pizza licking his hand, just like Duracell licks mine. Don't know what I did to make her hate me, but I want her to go to someone she likes. "Do I take her home now or…?"

"No, not for another month. They have to learn to eat pellets and timothy hay. Then I have to get them spayed and neutered, and teach you how to take care of them properly. Rabbits need a ton of attention. You can't just leave it in its cage and only feed it and give it water. You have to play with them every day. For now, I would set a spot for her cage in your room, away from wires, or anything that could fall on her."

"Okay. I'll do that. Sorry, but I have to give you back to your owner," He said to Pizza while handing her back over to me. She didn't want to be held by me and showed it by trying to get out of my grasp. "I hope what I found meant something to you. This is the hardest this I've investigated."

"It's better than nothing."

**~*~V~*~**

A lot of things happened to day. JoJo kissed me, I found a home for Pizza, and Ralphie has a brother that I might have come in contacts with. Goodie.

But what are the chances of that? It would've been nice if Randall remembered his name. He said began with a T….

I want to say it's Tommy Gun, but what's not likely. Like I told Randall earlier, we all went by nice names.

Some were more creative than others. JoJo's real name is Jojoba. Not that original.

…..

Tommy Gun couldn't be that careless. I don't know his real name. Why would I _want_ to know? His name couldn't be Thomas, could it?

Who the hell am I kidding? That's extremely likely.

It's a common name too, so there's that. Thomas isn't an unusual name. I know theirs at least five Thomas's in my school. That would explain how Tommy found where I live.

I'm trying to quit, but I need a cigarette.

I heard coughing coming from behind me. Turning, I saw Zack coming into my room.

"Are you okay, Zack?" I asked him. I walked over to pick him up and sat him down in my lap.

"My throat hurts," He said in a strained voice. Worried, I put my hand on his forehead and cheeks. He's not warm. Good. "It hurts to talk," He said, tears coming to his eyes.

"Don't worry. Mom will know what to do," I said. I took his hand and led him downstairs into the kitchen where mom was working on dinner. "Mom, I think Zack has a sore throat. He says his throat hurts when he talks."

"Another sore throat? Oh no," She said. She immediately stopped cooking and kneeled down to Zack. "Ok, Zack, open your mouth so I can see." Zack opened his mouth as wide as he could and mom looked inside. "Yep, definitely a sore throat. TJ, can you please take Zack upstairs and put him in bed? I'll be up in a minute to give him some medicine." I nodded.

"C'mon, Zack." I picked him up and carried him into his room. I picked out a pair of loose fitting pajamas and helped him change before putting him in bed. "You'll feel better soon okay?" He nodded.

"I wanna play with the bunnies," He whined.

"I'm sorry, but you can't. Their fur might make your throat hurt more. Mom is going to come in and make everything better." Right after I said that, mom came in the room carrying a bottle of medicine and a cup of tea. I went into my own room to clean up the mess the bunnies made earlier. They're all in the cage, huddled together and sleeping. I almost forgive them for pooping on my floor. It wasn't a lot. I cleaned that up right after I put them back in the cage. I have to vacuum their fur off the floor. I plugged in the vacuum, but right as was about to turn it on, my door flew open and Zack ran in and hid behind me.

"TJ tell momma I don't have to drink the hot stuff!" He yelled is his raspy voice. "It hurts!"

"It's tea, Zack. The honey in it helps your throat feel better."

"But it's hot! I don't wanna drink it!" I kneeled down to his height. He's crying now. A sore throat hurts enough when you're older. For a three year old it can be the more painful thing on Earth. I don't want to make him drink the tea, but he has to.

"Zack, where did you run off to?" I heard mom call from the hallway.

"He's in here, mom," I called. "Zack, do you trust me?" He slowly nodded. "I promise that the tea will make your throat feel better. It works for me, and I know I'll work for you."

"But it's hot!"

"Then maybe mom will let it cool down some so it's easier for you to drink," I said right as mom came in. "Mom, I think the tea is too hot for Zack to drink. He says it's hot."

"Yes, I know. I'm letting it cool down before he drinks it again," She said. "He has a doctor's appointment on Monday. This is the tenth sore throat he's had, and I'm hoping it's not strep throat like the last two times."

"That's terrible. Strep is a pain to go through. Zack, ready to go back to bed?" I asked him. He nodded and I took his hand to lead him back into his room and put him into bed. I stayed and watched mom give Zack a teaspoon of sore throat syrup and the now warm tea. He glanced over at me with an unsure look on his face. I nodded for him to take the medicine and reluctantly did so. After he drank the tea, mom left the room after telling him that she'll be up with a bowl of chicken noodle soup later.

"You'll feel better soon, Zack. Promise."

"Why do I keep getting sore throats?" He asked me.

"I'm not sure. Some people get sick easier than others, and they have to be extra careful to stay healthy," I told him. "It's not your fault; you didn't do anything wrong."

"It's not fair!" He said as he folded his arms and pouted. "I gotta take medicine and stay home! I wanna go to daycare and play."

"But if you go you'll make the other kids sick. You don't want Valarie to get sick, do you?"

"….No, but I don't wanna stay home and take the nasty medicine."

"It's be over soon. Remember when I have my eye taken out and told you about being brave?"

"Uh-huh."

"This is just like then. Now, you have to be brave for yourself, and I'll be brave for you too," I said, pulling him into a hug. "I'll be back in a little bit. I have to go clean. Be brave okay?"

"'kay."

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><p><strong>I have a sore throat on one side. It's better than the whole thing, but it's annoying because it's the first time I've been sick in a year. I'm falling in love with tea. It does wonders. It's amazing what simple ingredients like honey or ginger can do. For the next week my diet will consist of tea and cough drops.<strong>

**Donna Nnov: Yes! A Chauncey reference. I had to do that. It's been sitting in my head for a while.**

**Please Review!**


	75. Chapter 75

***Sigh***

**I'm so mad at myself right now.**

**I bought a pair of ear buds. Used scissors to cut through the plastic case it comes in. Cut straight through the wire. I paid 15 dollars for those things…It's one of those moments that you wish you could have a do-over. Ugh! I hate moments like these.**

**After this story, I don't know what I'm going to write. If I'm going to write anything, I need to think about it **_**now**_** and get the whole plot in my head before I can write it down. Any ideas? Another King Bob/TJ sounds good, but I'm willing to write anything you all have in mind. **

**Go forth and read on!**

* * *

><p><em>Journal,<em>

_JoJo's not answering my phone calls or texts. After that kiss, things have been getting weird with us. Maybe I should let the smoke clear after that accident before we talk again. I need to sort out my feels for him, while I'm at it._

_Poor Zack. I'd get sick for him in a heartbeat if I could. All I can do is get his mind of the pain. He said the sweetest thing to me today._

**~*~V~*~**

Where the hell is that look-a-like?

I've been looking around for Ralphie all day, and I haven't seen him at all. He knows I'm after his ass. Any other day, he'd be right with Spinelli and the others, but not today. Not the week after Tommy Gun, who I'm sure is his brother, pops up at my doorstep.

When I looked at my reflection in the mirror after a shower Saturday night, I couldn't stand looking at the color of my hair. That, along with the freckles, remind me too much of him. I bleached it blond again yesterday. That's how much I hate this guy.

I'm in gym right now, and I'm in the middle of a game of dodge ball. Ashley's sitting on the side of the gym. We don't want her to get hit in the stomach. She managed to get 98% of the girls to get on my team.

I don't hit girls. I'm aiming for Vince and Gus and don't want to miss. Mikey, not so much. That wouldn't be a fair fight.

Mental note: after school, find them and see if they know where Ralphie is.

BAM! Landed one right on Gus! C'mon El Nino! _STEP YOUR GAME UP._

"I hope that you hold nothing against me for hitting your boyfriend," I said to Theresa while I was giving my arm a break.

"I'm mad at him for not putting up a fight," she said, sending a ball flying over to the other side of the court. It landed, hard, on some unfortunate soul. Nice aim. I nodded before I got back to the game. If Ralphie was here, he would the victim of my onslaught.

"Can you tell your boyfriend and his friends to meet me after school? We need to talk."

"Will do. Watch out for Vince though, he's aiming for your head."

The coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game. My team one by a landslide. Most of the guys on the other team were afraid of hitting the girls too hard and that helped a ton. We all went back into the locker rooms to change. I checked my phone for any messages. Nothing. I put it in my pocket, grabbed my backpack and headed towards my last class of the day. This class always goes by fast, and I need to leave. I'm heading straight home after talking to the guys. Zack will be back to the doctor by then, and he's probably waiting for me to come home. He didn't want me to go to school today; he wanted me to stay home with him. I would've love to, but I had to go to school. There wasn't much I could do, but I told him time would go by fast and I'd be back before he knew it.

The teacher is making a big deal for us, especially those close to turning 18, to get out and vote.

…

I'm not voting. This election is crazy, on both sides.

Great, a report due next Monday. Lovely.

When the bell rang, I grabbed my bag met Ashley outside of class.

"What's with you today?" She asked me. "You've been quiet, more than usual."

"I have a lot on my mind. Nothing to fuss over," I said before I kissed her forehead. "I'll be better by tomorrow."

"You should be happy. There's only a month and a half left of school!"

"That soon? Doesn't the school year go into a week of June?" I asked her

"On any other year, but we only go into June to make up for the snow days we use. We had no snow day, so the year ends early," Ashley explained. "Didn't they do the same in juvie?"

"Nah, we had school all year to keep us busy. This is going to be my first summer vacation in years. And to think, I _saved_ summer vacation before fifth grade. How's it going with your parents?"

"Ugh. Nothing's going. I'm not here on Friday 'cause they're taking me to the first of many of doctor's appointments. Wish me luck."

"Of course. I have to go meet some people in front of school. I'll call you later tonight." I kissed her one more time before she walked off and left the school. As I walked towards the doors at the front of the school, I pulled out a cigarette and my book of matches. As I opened the doors I lit a match and then the cigarette. I was met with the sight of the five people I didn't believe would show up. "Wow, you all came."

"Theresa said it was important," Gus said. "And she threatened to break up with me, though I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"Relax, this'll go by fast if it goes as smooth as it should," I said. "I'm sure you all remember to horrible sight of me bashing someone's face on Saturday, along with all the blood."

"What the hell was wrong with you?" Vince asked. I kept my eyes focused on the smoke coming from the tip of my cigarette. "You know what this reminds me of? That time when you lost your fucking mind and went around beating the shit out of any kid you could reach."

_"Ah, the highlight of my existence," Alex hissed from his corner inside my head. "So much rage was coursing through you that day. I had a buffet on all that anger and hate."_

"It was nothing like that. I know that guy. He's the one that blinded me. I don't want him anywhere near me or Zack because a month ago I found out he went to juvie because he raped his four year old neighbor. I believe that constitutes a murder, but I settled for a beating. He had the nerve to come up to me and to ask me to introduce him to Zack and I lost all rationale. You only saw me beating him up and tried to get me off of him, which I understand. It, from your point of view, looked terrible and you wanted to stop it. But I didn't beat him into a pulp for no reason. Besides, he got up and walked away. He's fine. Bastard's built like a brick house."

"Damn. Next time, we'll let you do whatever the hell you want to the freak," Spinelli said. "Sorry 'bout that."

"You don't have to apologize. You did what you thought was right. Now, I have to get home. My brother is in incredible pain and I have to be there." I started to walk away from them, but I remembered what else I wanted to see them for. "Where's Ralphie?"

"He's out today. He said something about his brother being in town," Gretchen said. Ah, shit. What a coincidence.

**~*~V~*~**

Quietly, I opened the door to Zack's room. I peeked inside, but he wasn't awake. He was snuggled under his blankets in his pajama's sleeping away. I won't wake him up. Rather, I put down my backpack in my room and went downstairs. The bunnies were asleep as well. They're cranky if I wake them up, so I only took Duracell with me. I sat on the couch and put Duracell down next to me.

"You need a break away from all those kids of yours, don't you?" I said to her halfheartedly. "Don't worry, they all have homes waiting for them." I reached for the remote on the coffee table when something else caught my eye. Under the table, I spotted a book, a large book. I picked it up (it was heavy, too) and sat it on my lap.

'Oh. It's our photo album. Why do pictures have to be so heavy?'

Opening to a random page, I saw pictures of a little girl with black hair, playing, running, dancing, things that little girls did. These are pictures of Becky when she was little. She looks tolerable.

I turned a few more pages and she got older through each page. I stopped when I saw one a picture of her, around the age of 6, sitting on the couch and doing her best to hold a screaming, crying baby.

….Is that me?

Aww, I was chubby even when I was a baby. On my birth certificate it says I weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces. Aren't babies supposed to be like 5 or 6 pounds? I'm bald in these too.

As I kept turning, I saw pictures of me growing, sitting in a high chair eating and being as messy as a baby could get. Hair came gradually. While mine was growing, I was pulling on others hair when it was in reach. Heh.

I turned one more page, and I was on the floor with another baby, it looked like a girl about the same age, and I was tugging on her hair as well. Of course, she's crying, and someone's trying to get me to let go. The little girl looks familiar.

…

Is that Spinelli? This is too funny. Okay, okay. Moving on. I absentmindedly flipped deeper into the album. Eventually I ran into pictures that I wasn't in. These must've been taken when I was gone. And there's a new baby in some of these. Zack. Unlike me, he was born with a full head of jet black hair and wasn't crying his head off.

'I should be in one of these pictures holding him,' I thought.

_"Oh, please. You would've dropped him without a second thought. That would've been a good thing, though." Said Alex._

"Hey Mom," I said, going into the kitchen. "Did the doctor say what was wrong with Zack?"

"It's definitely strep throat. He's going to be stuck in bed for at least the rest of the week," She said. "He's been asking for you all day. He's really attached to you."

"I don't mean to sound rude when asking this, but why did you and dad have Zack?"

"Zack….we didn't _plan _on having him. We love him all the same, but he was more an accident."

"Why….didn't you tell me about him when he was born? I found out about him when I broke out of juvie and tried to break in through my window. I saw him standing up in his crib, shaking his raddle," I said. "A letter would've been nice….."

"Yes, that's what we should've done. We already told you how we thought it would help you adjust better with little contact with us. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea, but there isn't much we can do to fix that now, can we?" The sound of a bell ringing interrupted us. It was much louder than the bell I have in the cage. "That's Zack. When I got him up this morning, he could barely talk. I bought him a bell to ring when he needs something. It'll make him feel better to see you."

"I'll go get him," I said. I turned and walked out of the kitchen, picking up Duracell as a walked through the living room. "I hope you don't mind me cutting your vacation short." I carried her upstairs and put her in her cage. After, I opened the door to Zack's room. He was sitting in his bed, and stopped ringing his bell when he saw me. He smiled, and that hid the obvious pain he was in.

"Hey Zack, how are you feeling?" I gently asked him.

"…it hurts," He managed to say. He held out his arms to me. My heart melted like ice under a magnifying glass on a hot summer day and I picked him up. I sat on the floor (his bed was too small and I'm too heavy for a toddler bed) and held him in my arms. "I don't wanna be sick…." He said, laying his head on my shoulder. I heard him sobbing and he cried onto my shirt.

"I know, I know. You won't be sick forever. You'll feel better faster than you'll know." He continued to cry and I held him until he calmed down. It's all I CAN do to comfort him. Eventually the tears stopped flowing and he calmed down on his own.

"You're my best friend," I heard Zack say. "We're buddies."

"Thank you so much for so saying that Zack," I said. "Sometimes I think I'm not a good big brother to you."

"You're the best big brother ever, 'cause you scare the monsters in my closet away, and tell me how I have to be brave, and you have bunnies."

"Then I'll keep up the good work. Does it hurt to talk?" He nodded. "Then maybe it would be best if you didn't talk a lot until your throat feels better. Only saw a few words, like yes and no, okay?"

"'Kay."

"I think I might have something that'll help you be brave." I picked him up and carried as I walked into my rom. I went straight for my closet and opened the door. There was one box left, filled with a few things from Duval. I kneeled down, still holding Zack and opened it. Sitting on top of everything else that was inside was my trademark red cap. I kept it after all those years of not wearing it. I couldn't throw it away. It was a big part of who I was. I picked it up and gently placed it on Zack's head. It's big on him, and I looks like it'll fall off easily.

"I used to wear that all the time," I said as Zack took it off and look it. "If I ever took it off, people would ask me where it was. It was my trademark. I never went anywhere without it. I want you to have it, 'cause it'll help you be brave. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. It's red."

"Good. I want you to take good care of it. I don't need it anymore." I helped him put it back on. It fell over his eyes. "Don't worry, you'll grow into it. It'll fit like a glove before you know it. Let's get you back to bed before mom starts to worry."

~*~V~*~

When I managed to get Zack to sleep, I went out for a walk and found myself down at the lake. It's been a week since I stopped lighting fires. I left my box of matches at home so I couldn't light a fire if I wanted to. Instead, I picked up a bunch of rocks and skipped them across the water.

'Should I tell Ashley about me and JoJo kissing? It's not like anything _else _happened. I was half expecting us to have sex to break all the tension that was hanging in the air,' I thought. 'All we did was kiss. Hmm. Would I want Ashley to tell me if she kissed another guy? Yeah, I would. I'll tell her, calmly. She's going to kill m—"

A small rock hit me in the back of my head interrupted my train of thought. I rubbed the back of my head where I was hit and turned to see who had the nerve to hit me. Ralphie. What a surprise. He stood at the edge of the lake, tossing a small rock up and down in his hand.

"Heard you were looking for me," He said with his smile plastered on his face.

"Why'd you hit me?"

"You looked so focused and it seemed like the only way to get your attention. Why do you want to talk to me for all of a sudden? You couldn't stand me at first," He said. "Have you realized that you should join the bandwagon and be my friend?"

"No, and those threats you sent me made me hate you more," I snapped. "You don't threaten people you want to be friends with. It's a pretty shitty strategy."

"You're right, which is why I didn't do it."

"Do you have a brother? That's what I wanted to see you for."

"A brother? Yep, I have an older brother. Thomas, but we all call him Tommy."

"What's your last name?"

"Gee, you sure want to know a lot about a person who you don't want to be friends with. Rifle, my last name is Rifle. I'm Ralphie Ronald Rifle, tongue twister, I know. My brother is Thomas Rilfe."

"Ah. Thanks," I said, turning back to the lake. "You can go now."

"You're an asshole, you know that? People try to be friends with you and you treat them like shit. Do you even hang out with the others when you don't _need_ them for something? Or are they just sources of information that you come to when it's convenient for you?"

"I case you haven't noticed, being friends with them is not high on my list of things to do. They're barely on that list at all. Do I want to be friends with them? I'm not sure, but that's none of your business. Acquaintances, yes. I'll talk to them, have conversations, like acquaintances. Friends? Ha. We're probably never going to be friends again. If we do become friends, then we aren't going to be as close as we were before all this shit happened. Still, I'll never be friends with you."

"Fine. Don't be my friend," He said. Finally, he gets it. "It would be a shame though is something happened to your brother."

"Don't you dare threaten Zack!" I yelled at him. "I will _kill_ you in front of everybody and be put to death by the electric chair before I let you do anything to him!"

"Right," he said, turning away from me. "I'll see you later, _Freckles."_

A cold chill jolted up my spine when he called m _Freckles. _I hadn't mentioned that I was called that in Duval to him. The only way he could've found out was through his brother. Tommy Gun is without a doubt his brother. Thomas Rifle? _Tommy Gun?_ Too similar to NOT be the same person.

I need to get home and check up on Zack. I know he's unharmed, sleeping away in his bed, but I have to see to settle me nerves after what Ralphie said.

I won't let him lay a hand on Zack.

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><p><strong>I dropped a class! I had to, it was too much. But yeah, like I said in the note above this chapter, I'm totally willing to hear what you all want to be written. Something new and not done before (or not that often) is preferred. <strong>

**Reviews are Highly Appreciated! **


	76. Chapter 76

…**..I was serious in my last authors note guys. Any ideas? Any at all? I guess not. That alright, I'll think of something. I think I'll focus on King Bob/TJ stories after this.**

**I figured out how this story is going to end! :D Right on time, too. We skip ahead quite a bit in this chapter, but for good reason. I have little knowledge of ultrasounds, so bear with me as I do my best.**

**Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~V~*~<strong>

The only two sources of light in the small room was from the small monitor and an even smaller lamp on the other side of the room. The lights on the ceiling was off to allow the three people in the room to have a better view of the monitor.

Ashley A., laid on the examination table with the loose-fitting shirt she wore over her now round belly. She shivered as the ultrasound technician spread the cool jelly over her stomach with the transducer. The black and white picture of what was supposed to be a baby growing in her stomach appeared on the screen, and its heartbeat could be heard.

"That's your baby," Said the technician, Dr. Schimt.

"That's our baby," Ashley A. said. She squeezed the hand she was holding. "TJ that's our baby!"

"It looks so weird. Are you sure?" TJ asked. His answer was smack on the back of his head. "What? It looks weird to me."

"Don't worry Ms. Armbruster. Most men who come here say the same thing," Dr. Schimt assured her. "Would you two like to know the gender?"

"Do we?" TJ asked his girlfriend.

"Yep. Is it a boy or a girl?" Ashley asked.

"It's….a baby girl," the Doctor said. "Congratulations."

"She'd have you wrapped around your finger," Ashley said to TJ.

"What makes you say that?" He asked her.

"You see how you bend over backwards for your brother. Imagine if Zack was a girl. You'd take over the world if he asked you, and don't say you wouldn't, 'cause you would, and you know it."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," He said. "I'll go get your parents so you can tell them. I doubt your dad would want to hear this from me. I'll be right back." Squeezing Ashley's hand one more time, TJ stood out his seat and left the room. After a short walk he reached the waiting room where her parents were sitting in. "Ashley wants to see you. We found the gender of the baby, but it'll sound better coming from her than me." Her father walked past him without saying a word, while her mother said 'thank you' before following her husband.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

Now I know where Ashley gets her stubbornness from. Her father. God, the man doesn't budge on any of his views for _anyone_. Thank God for Ashley's mom. I'd be dead by now if it wasn't for her.

It's summer break, and I had finally managed to find a job. It wasn't searching for one the day I got it. I was heading home with Zack after playing in the park, and we stopped by Kelso's for ice cream. I thought this place would be closed, or at least owned by someone else. Mr. Kelso was getting old when I was younger, so I assumed that the place would be gone. Nope. Old guys still working there, as hard as ever. We had a nice conversation, too.

He has trouble getting around though, and I asked him if he thought about hiring someone else to do the heavy lifting around the place. He said people don't want to work there, and teenagers would rather flock to all the jobs in malls and clothing stores.

Are you fucking kidding me? Who _wouldn't_ want to work at Kelso's?

I told him that I'll work there, starting that day. I was hired on the spot.

Zack loves it. He gets free ice cream if I bring him, but only one bowl. Two if I decide to spoil him.

And that job helped me in convincing Mr. Armbruster to let me temporarily move in to help Ashley. She' getting morning sickness 24 hours a day, a crazy appetite, mood swings, all that pregnancy jazz. She's four and a half months along, and we're having a baby girl.

Ashley's right. That little girl would have me wrapped around her finger.

We've been looking at families for adoption, and narrowed them down to twenty. After this, we're going to her place to go over them again.

Speaking of adoption, the bunnies are gone now. All went to happy loving homes. Two for JoJo; Parika and Falafel, one for Specs; Norman, one for Bandit; Bugs, one for Randal; Pizza, two for Zack, Thing One and Thing Two, and two for me to keep; Energizer and Oatmeal. Oh, and one for Mikey, Speedy. I hope he can handle that little roadrunner.

I miss them so much, I really do. I miss the bunnies hopping around my feet in the morning.

Zack takes good care of his bunnies. I taught him well. All of them were spayed and neutered before I gave them away. No more surprise bunnies.

I ended the school year with a 3.0 average, just what I aimed for. Now that school's out, I can focus on work, Ashley, Zack, and the few rabbit's I have at home.

That reminds me. After picking out families, I'm supposed to teach Zack how to tie his shoes. He doesn't like the Velcro one's he has to wear. He says he likes the shoes that have lights in them, but all those have laces.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when someone sat down in the seat next to me. I looked and was it Ashley.

"All done?" I asked her.

"Yep. The doctor said she's perfectly healthy. Nothing to worry about," She said with a smile. "My Mom and Dad are filling out the paperwork. Now all we have to do is find our little princess and home."

"Any particular type of family you're looking for?"

"A good one. They all look like the stereotypical 'wholesome' family from the pictures. They can't _all_ be like that. I don't want her to go to that kind of family."

"Oh, you want her to go to a couple of crazy people?" She lightly punched me in my arm.

"No, of course not. I'm only saying that these people are putting up a mask of perfection. When we pick out a few to interview that they relax a little bit and they let us know how they really are. Nobody perfect, even if these people are acting like it. But let's pick them out first."

**~*~V~*~**

I sat on the floor in Ashley's bedroom with my back against the bed. Ashley was laying down on her bed with her legs lifted up by a few pillows. Around the both of us were sheets of papers with information about families we were considering. We were organizing this in _some_ particular order, I just can remember….

"The Fitzgeralds," Ashley read from the sheet she was holding. "Olivia and John. Married for four years. The guy is 30 and a doctor who has his own practice, and the woman is 29 and is a kindergarten teacher for the last three years. It says here they live a couple towns over, but is willing to have an open adoption along with visits. That's a bonus."

"Those are busy jobs. Do they have _time_ for a baby?" I asked her.

"It says here that the woman would take a year off from her job to take care of the baby if we choose them," Said Ashley.

"Right, right. Okay, how about this couple," I said, picking the closest sheet. "The Constantinople's."

"Jesus that's a long name."

"I know right? Let's see…..William and Benjamin. They're both 25, but they own a bakery."

"William and Benjamin?"

"Yeah, they're both guys. That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, it's just that I don't remember a gay couple being in the pile. Anything else?"

"Not much. They recently bought a house, their business is doing great, nothing bad at all. I like both of these couples. What about you?"

"Yep. They go in the second pile, the one's we're picking out."

Now I remember how we were organizing these papers. The boring couples in one pile, and the one's we wanted to interview in another. So far, we have five in the interview pile. Five more and we're done. It's hard to pick. They're all good stable homes. Picking out the best of the best is going to be impossible.

"The Louis's, Helena and Francis. They already have three kids, all of them boys. They're probably desperate for another girl in that house," Said Ashley. "The husband's an accountant, and wife stays at home."

"They already have three kids….," I mumbled.

"Yeah, but they're boys. She'll have an army of men behind her if her heart ever gets broken."

"True, true. Into the pile it goes."

**~*~V~*~**

"First you take both laces, one in each hand them you cross them, right, just like that. Now you take one, and put it under the other and pull. Good, now, you make a little bunny ear with one lace, then take the other lace and wrap it around that part closet to your finger that holding the bunny ear. That right, you're doing great. Now you pull that same lace through the hole underneath, no, not the bunny ear, the other one, good. And pull it tight, but not too tight. See? You did it! That wasn't so hard was it?"

"Yes it was."

When I got home, I didn't get three feet inside the door before Zack ran up to me and pulled me into the living room to teach him how to tie his shoes. He must've thought it was going to be easy, because when he didn't get it for the fifth time, he wanted to give up, but he finally got it.

"But now that you know how to, it'll be easy, right?" I asked him.

"No," Zack said, looking down at his shoes. "What if I forget?"

"That's why you have to keep practicing so you won't forget. Do you want to practice?"

"No, I want ice cream."

"You can't have ice cream now, Zack. Dinner is going to be ready soon," I said. I hope this isn't the start of one of his tantrums. Zack's been having a ton of tantrums lately and I don't know why. I asked mom and she had he didn't throw many of them when he was two. maybe they're catching up with him.

"I want ice cream," He said folding his arms. "TJ get me ice cream!" I blame half of this on myself. I spoil him a lot…..

"The answer is still no, Zack. If you keep acting like this, I'll make sure you won't get any ice cream for dessert."

"I WANT ICE CREAM!" He screamed. "TJ GET ME ICE CREAM NOW!" He started pushing an hitting me, and it doesn't hurt at all, he's only three. This isn't the first time he's thrown a fit, he's done it before, in front of mom and dad no less. I picked him up despite his hitting and carried him into the kitchen. I sat him down on a stool in the corner. He folded his arms.

"Zack, mom and dad told you what happens when you throw a tantrum. They said it's okay to be upset, but it's not okay to scream and hit others," I told him. "Ten minutes in time out, and I want an apology when it's over." A left him in his seat and walked out of the kitchen. This sudden change in his attitude is unsettling.

_"He's being a brat," Alex said, sitting on the couch next to me. "A good smack across the ass with a wooden spoon will set him straight."_

'As bad as that is, it's not as bad as the other things you said about him,' I thought. 'Why the change?'

_'Because you know why that little urchin is here in the first place,' He said, taking out a cigarette. 'Now that you know, my insults won't be as effective.'_

'You almost sound helpful.'

_'I can be. It's like Mr. Simmons said, __**Freckles,**__ I'm only a manifestation of your anger. I thrive on your anger, and anger makes you angrier. It's all a vicious cycle that I know how manipulate for my own existence. It was so easy to make you angry by talking shit about Zack, 'cause your just as angry as I am that he exists. Now you know why, and I can't use it against you. You and me are one in the same. Dye your hair black, put on a suit, red contacts, fake fangs and horns, and BAMM, you got me. Though you have more muscle.'_

_ '_I was never angry about Zack.'

_'Bull. Shit. You were pissed when you found about that little fucker. But hey, maybe his behavior is a sign he's more like you than we all thought. Just look." _

I tore my eyes away from Alex against my better judgment to look into the kitchen. I expected to see Zack still sitting in the corner. Nope. He's standing on a chair that he must've pushed next to the refrigerator and was trying to open the freezer.

"Zack, no!" I said as I got up from my seat and took him off the chair. He started kicking a screaming as soon as I had him in my arms. I managed to get him back down in the seat in the corner. "Zack, what did I tell you before?"

"I want ice cream!" He yelled. "Now!"

"What's going on in here?" I turned and saw mom coming into the kitchen. Good. She's better at handling this sort of thing than I am. "I keep hearing all this screaming."

"Zack's throwing a tantrum because I said he couldn't have any ice cream," I told her. "It's too close to dinner to eat ice cream."

"Zack, what have I told you about throwing tantrums?" She said, getting down to his eye level. letting her take over, I walked out and headed upstairs, thinking about what Alex told me.

Or what I told me. Or what my anger told me. Whatever, what I just found out, shit.

Mr. Simmons did say that Alex was a manifestation of my anger a long time ago, and that to get rid of him, I would have to stop being angry. I'm not angry. I'm perfectly content with my life as it is. Sure, it's not ideal with my getting a girl pregnant, but it's better than being in juvie, balancing, selling drugs and prostituting. I sat down next to my extra-large cage in my room, and one by one, I took the rabbit out. I didn't feel comfortable with Zack having Thing One and Thing Two in his room, so they're staying in here until he's older. Duracell immediately jumped into my lap.

I'm not angry at anything or anyone. I'm not.

Well, Ralphie and Tommy, but that's a given. Otherwise, I'm good. I don't get it.

My phone beeped. I took it out my pocket and check it. JoJo sent me a text.

_Up to anything Freckles?_

**No, just letting the rabbits exercise, why?**

_Just asking. Heard anything from Tommy Gun?_

**I haven't heard anything all summer. How's Falafel and Paprika? **

_They're sleeping right now. How's your girlfriend?_

**Good. We just found out she's having a girl.**

_Congrats. Wanna hang out later?_

**Yeah, but I can't. I'm going over someone's house in an hour. how about tomorrow?**

_K, tomorrow._

I closed my phone and went back to watching the rabbits. Luckily I don't have work this weekend. Mr. Kelso went out of town. Some family thing going on.

"Do you miss your family, Duracell?" I asked, halfheartedly. I never expect an answer more than her making herself comfortable where she was. "I do. I hope you don't mind me cutting this short. I want to go over and visit an old friend of mine before dark," I said, as I placed Duracell and the rest of them back in their cages. "I'll make sure to give you all a treat when I get back."

~*~V~*~

"Here it is, right here." I held the small piece of laminated paper that gave me the right to drive in front of me for my former Principal. I haven't been over to his house since he taught me how to drive. I wasn't going to come back until I got my license to show him I was paying attention. I got this little thing last weekend and I've been waiting to show him ever since. "The picture's even decent enough for me not be embarrassed. I had to take that test five times before I got it."

"Five times? Why did you have to take it that many times?" Prickly asked me. "You drove just fine when I taught you."

"The instructor has a stick up his ass. He watched every detail, and if I did one thing that wasn't according to the book, he counted that against me. But I have it now; I don't have to deal with him anymore!"

"Good. Now all you need is a car to drive and you'll be set," He said, walking out his kitchen and towards the front door.

"….Sir?" I asked, looking towards where he went. My only answer was Prickly walking right out the door. Should I follow him? I should.

I put my license back in my wallet as a followed him out the door. By the time I was outside, he was standing in front of this garage, and the door was beginning to lift open.

"Sir? What's going on?" I asked as I stood next to him. I didn't get an answer until the door was finished opening. Inside the garage were two cars, one black and one red.

"Now you're all set," Prickly said, tossing a set of keys over to me. I caught the keys and looked at them, then the cars, then the keys again.

….

Did he just…give me a _car_?

"….Sir, are you giving me a car?" I quietly asked.

"Yep. That's right," he said casually. "The red one's yours. I remember you saying red is your favorite color."

"….You didn't have to do this."

"I know I didn't _have_ to. I wanted to," He said. "Think of it as an early Christmas present. You've been working hard ever since you got out of Duval, you deserve it."

"But it's used right? You didn't get me a new car. Everyone starts off with a bucket,"

"My favorite student isn't going to start off with a bucket for a car. A new one is safer. If you don't want it I can take it back, but I would hate to since I paid it in full," He told me.

"No, no. I want it. I appreciate it, sir. Thank you. It's just that it's not every day that your elementary school principal buys one of their students a car. A new car at that."

"You're welcome. Now, before you drive off, I want you to know a few things. One, it's on my insurance and under my name, so I'm trusting you to take good care of this car. Try not to get in an accident. I'd like it if you tried not to drive on certain nights, too."

"Like when?"

"New year's eve, prom night, St. Patricks day, you know, days when people in general are being stupid and the chances are getting in an accident goes through the roof. And if I ever find out you've been driving drunk I'll take the car away faster than you'll sober up."

"Got it. Use common sense. So, do you want to come with me for my first drive?"

~*~V~*~

_I HAVE A FUCKING CAR. A NEW CAR! _

I have to show someone. The need to gloat is too great to resist.

I pulled over and pulled out my cellphone. I texted Vince and asked him where he and the other were. they're over Spinelli's house. Perfect. Time to brag about my _new, shiny red car._ It took me a few minutes to drive over to her house, and I parked right in front. I honked my horn three times before getting out and waiting for them to come out. It took them a minute or two, but they came eventually.

"Like my new car?" I asked casually as a leaned against it. "It's new. Like _brand _new."

"Nice car! When'd you get it?" Vince asked.

"I got it today. An hour ago to be exact," I told them. "And I didn't pay a dime for it!"

"You didn't steal it, did you?" Gus asked suspiciously.

"No. Prickly gave it to me," I said.

"Prickly? Why would he give you a car?" Spinelli asked.

"'Cause I'm his favorite student. But seriously, the guy's like a second father to me. I'm not going to complain about him getting a car, though I rather he didn't waste his _retirement_ money on me…but anyways, it's paid in full, and he doesn't want to take it back. Now, who wants a ride?"

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><p><strong>I haven't updated in quite a while. Sorry about that. School's been holding me back. <strong>

**Now, I recently received an PM asking me why I always pair TJ off with another guy, and I thought I should answer this in an author's note because I'm sure some of my followers wonder about this too. Simply put, I pair him with other guys because that's all I can do. I feel like I have more 'creative freedom' when I pair him with other guys. It's not like I don't like pairing him with Spinelli, I like the pairing a lot, and it's one of my favorites. I just think that it's so overdone, that I can't write a fic with them together without feeling like I'm copying someone else (trust me, I've tried). If I were to write a fic pairing him with a girl, it would either be with Ashley A., like somewhat in this story, or with CJ, that girl from the one episode with everyone's copy at the other school. So yeah. **

**Big shit will start to happen in the next chapter; I just wanted to get this one out so you all know I'm not dead. :D**

**Please Review!**


	77. Chapter 77

**I'm going to be honest with you folks. If I updated this story at the same rate I did over the summer this thing would be done. Damn college.**

**I promised drama in this chapter, and it's in here. It's a little fast paced though.**

**Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~TJ's POV~*~<strong>

I paced around in tight circles patting Zack's back as I held him. I'm standing in the bathroom with the shower running and the water as hot as I could get it. Zack's sick again with a nasty cold. I'm using the steam to try and clear his nose, while mom is out getting what she needs to make him soup and dads out getting medicine for him. I stopped pacing and sat him down on the counter to grab a tissue and let Zack blow his nose. This cold is really bad, and we're all on the lookout for any sign of a fever, 'cause I thought he had the flu when I first saw him getting sick again.

I would normally be over Ashley's house at this time, but she understood why I wanted to be there for my brother. I picked Zack up and carried him out of the bathroom. I grabbed the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet before I left.

"Open wide Zack," I softly said. Zack weakly opened his mouth and I place the device under his tongue. He closed his mouth and snuggled against my chest, making himself as comfortable as he could. I can see the tear beginning to form in his eyes. "It's going to be okay, Zack, I promise." He answered me with a deep cough. C'mon dad, hurry up with that medicine…..

The thermometer beeped, letting me know it was done measuring his temperature. I took it out of his mouth and looked at the number displayed.

104.7

Little guy's burning up. If it wasn't the flu before it sure as hell is now.

Dammit, how the hell do you get a temperature to go down? I'm not a doctor; I don't know. Mom and Dad are probably driving home now, and they can't answer the phone when they're driving. They took separate cars because they would get back fast if they didn't have to make two stops. Who can I call?

….

I know!

Carrying Zack, I walked into my room and spotted my phone on my bed. I grabbed it, laid Zack down, and went back out into the hallway. Opening it, I speed dialed the first number that popped up.

It seemed to take forever until the phone stopped ringing and someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Sir? I need some advice," I said as I paced the floor.

"What is it?" Prickly asked me

"I'm watching my little brother while our parents are out getting medicine for him, and I just took his temperature. He didn't have a fever the last time I checked him but now he has a fever of 104. I want to take him to hospital but our parents can be home any minute," I explained. "I want to take him to hospital _right now_ instead of waiting, but I don't know if I should wait for our parents our parents or not. Should I take him?"

"Of course you should take him to the hospital! What are you doing on the phone talking to me?" He said. "Wrap him up in a blanket, because I'm sure he has the chills, and get him to the hospital, _now_. Worry about where your parents are later. Okay? A fever that high isn't normal."

"Alright, thank you sir."

I hung up the phone and shoved it into my pocket. Taking the blanket on my bed I wrapped Zack in it (Prickly was right, he's shivering) and carried him downstairs, grabbing my car keys on the way. I reached for the doorknob, but stopped when a sound reached my ears.

….

….oh God.

I listen close to Zack's breathing. That's what it is. He's having trouble breathing.

"Zack? Zack, are you awake?" I asked him, trying to get his attention. He opened his eyes. Good, good. "I need you to stay awake, Zack. Everything's going to be okay, just stay awake with me, okay?" He nodded and placed his head on my shoulder. I gotta hurry.

**~*~V~*~**

It took all my willpower to not break the speed limit on my way to the hospital. I couldn't make this worse by getting in an accident. My phone rang as I drove. I know it's our parents asking where I am. But Zack comes first. After I parked, I ran to the back door and took Zack out. I ran into the hospital with him. I walked over to the lady behind the counter.

"My brother has a fever of 104 and he's having trouble breathing," I told her, not waiting for her to greet me. She waved for doctors and nurses to come over. I didn't want to give him over to them, but I can't help him anymore than what I've already done. I watched the nurse carry him and lay him on a stretcher before he was taken in the back.

I need to call mom and dad to let them know where we are…..

Calming myself, I walked towards the exit, noting the 'No Cellphones' sign near the door.

"TJ?"

Hearing my name I turned to see who called me. It's…Mrs. Armbruster? Before she came over I checked my phone. Of course mom and dad have been calling, but Ashley's parents have called too.

"What's going on?" I asked her. "Is something wrong? Is Ashley okay? Is something wrong with the baby?"

"Ashley, she's fine, or at least, she will be," She said, tears forming in her eyes. "But the baby….we tried calling you…"

"I know. I didn't pick up the phone because I was rushing to get my brother here. Sorry. Where is she?"

"The doctors are looking at her, but we should be called back any minute," She told me. "What's wrong with your brother?"

"He has a really high fever and having trouble breathing. I need to all our parents to let them know he's here. I'll be back in a minute, Mrs. Armbruster."

**~*~V~*~**

"I was just going to the bathroom like any other time. I was a little woozy and nauseas but I feel like that almost every day, being pregnant; I didn't think anything was wrong. There was so much _blood_. I've never seen that much blood before in my life and I didn't know what to do…"

As Ashley told me how she ended up here in the hospital, I hugged her. Her eyes and cheeks were red and puffy from crying, and she's shaking.

"I must've been screaming because mom and dad found me and called 911. Then the doctor said," She paused to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "The doctor said that the baby's heart isn't beating. Our baby is dead. Our baby is _dead_ before she got the chance to live. How does that even happen? I don't understand how that can happen….it doesn't make any sense…..." She stopped taking when it became too hard to talk past the tears.

…I don't know what to say….

..The baby's gone…?

I feel like someone punched me in the gut, but that's nothing to compared to how Ashley's feeling right now. I pulled her closer, letting her cry as much as she needs to on my shoulder.

…What happens now?

We had everything laid out for her when she was born…..but now...that day isn't going to come.

I wish I could answer her questions, just to give her some peace, but I can't…

"Ms. Armbruster?" We both looked up to see a doctor entering the room. "We have to take you back and run a few more tests, just to make sure that you're healthy." She nodded.

"I'll be here when you get back, Ashley." I stayed behind as she followed the doctor out of the room. Tonight's a very eventful night, isn't it? I spotted a map of the entire hospital on the wall. Forget this. I'll check at the front desk and see if Mom and Dad are here already.

~*~V~*~

"Hey, Zack. I'm right here, little guy…."

I found mom and Dad in the waiting room, and the doctor came out a few moments later. He too us to the room Zack was in, and I was ready to collapse when I saw him. He had a tube down his throat, and there were wires on his arms attached to machines around the bed he was laying in. Mom was at his side in a second. I saw his eyes dart around the room, only stopping when he spotted me.

My heart broke when he reached out for me.

I'm sitting in a seat next to his bed right now, brushing his hair out of his eyes. The doctor said it's pneumonia, so he's going to be here for a while. On the bright side, the doctor said he'll be okay, and that their doing test to find out exactly _why_ he gets sick so often (other than being a normal messy three-year-old).

It'll be okay, Zack I promise. I'll be damned to an early grave if it won't. I watched him close his eyes and fall asleep. Good. Get your rest, Zack.

I need a walk….

**~*~V~*~**

I had to go outside to get some air, but ended up sitting in my car. Hospitals are supposed to make you healthy. This one is making me feel sick to my stomach. Alright, let me assess the situation.

Ashley's here because she had a miscarriage, and that means the baby is gone. Our baby girl isn't here anymore. I went back and talked to her before coming out here. There's nothing wrong with _her_; the doctor said that things like this sometimes 'just happens' with no real reason. That doesn't make Ashley feel any better.

Then there's Zack. He'll be fine, but there's that looming possibility of _something else_ making it easy for him to keep getting sick.

Shit.

I need to get back in there. Smoking last bit of my cigarette, I opened the door to my car and got out. I stomped it out of the ground and close my car door, marching back into the hospital.

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><p><strong>I feel so out of touch. What, it's been like a month since my last update? Damn. How is everyone? Life going okay? I hope so. God it's been so long….<strong>

**This chapter is shorter than what I would like it to be, but it has to be to give me jump start on this story. I have this week off for Thanksgiving, then two more weeks of school, and then a month off for winter break, so yay! Hopefully I can get this story done during that time.**

**Please Review!**


	78. Of Socio's and Psycho's

**Alright! Winter break! Let's kick this story into high gear! I got three weeks of freedom! LETS GAO. Just kidding folks, I got one more week left. Then Winter break, but I thought I should get this chapter out.**

**Glad to see people haven't lost interest in this story. I almost thought this fandom was dead for a second. It's just in a coma….**

**Read On!**

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><p><em>Journal,<em>

_You know how they say that you shouldn't say 'nothing can possibly go wrong?' I found out why today. This is complete bullshit. WHY am I here? They're basing all of this on past things that I didn't even do! WHAT THE SHIT. I didn't do anything!_

_I'm more mad at myself for not putting the piece together sooner. But it doesn't look like that would've mattered. No one believes me now, what makes me think they would've believed me sooner?_

_I better get a better lawyer than the last time!_

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

"TJ, do you like my picture?"

"Of course I do. Who did you draw?"

"My friends from daycare. This one's Valarie, and this one's Sarah…."

I listened to Zack as he told me the names of all his friends from daycare and pictures he drew of them on the wall. I didn't worry about him drawing on the wall because that's what it's there for. While he was in the hospital recovering, I painted one of his walls with paint that doubles as a chalkboard. He loves it, especially after being cooped up in the hospital for weeks. He recovered just fine, and the doctors actually found why he keeps getting sick in the first place; his immune system is weak. Luckily it it's a simple fix. Only two pills and a complete diet overhaul to getting him caught up. He'll be on those pills for the rest of his life, but it's worth it if he stops getting sick.

"TJ, can I go play with the bunnies now?" He asked me.

"Alright. Let's go let them out of their cage," I said, leading the way to my room. I took me a few minutes to let the rabbits out and set up barriers so they wouldn't run out the room. As Zack played with them, I laid on my bed, pulled out my phone and dialed Ashley's number.

The last few weeks have been hell for her, and understandably so. Coping with the loss of the baby is hard on anyone. I've spent plenty of nights at her house, holding her as she cried and slept and telling her everything would be okay. It took time—and it still is—but it's getting better. Now that schools started again, it helps her to no focus on the miscarriage.

"Hello?" I heard her answer the phone.

"Hey Ashley, it's me, TJ. You called me earlier?"

"Oh, yeah! It's about that report in English. It's supposed to be ten pages right?"

"That's right."

"And an annotated bibliography?"

"Yep."

"Ugh. It isn't even three weeks into the school year and we're getting loaded down with reports already. How's yours coming along?"

"It's not. It's not due for another two weeks, Ashley…."

"I know but I want to get it out of the way. I'm almost done with the rough draft. You should get started, it'll feel good when everyone is cramming to get theirs done and you're just sitting back, waiting to turn it in."

"Maybe. I did some research yesterday, but that's about it. I'm watching Zack right now," I said. "Do you want me to come over?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine. Just came to double check about the report. Thanks, see you tomorrow!"

The both of us hung up and put the phone back in my pocket. Smart girl, smarter than what she lets on. I wish she didn't put up that façade at school for everyone. But it's her choice.

I looked over the edge of my bed and found Duracell standing on her back legs looking at me. I reached over and petted her head before she hopped away. I heard mom calling Zack from downstairs. Time for his medicine. Pouting, Zack marched out of my room and headed downstairs. Don't worry, Zack, it'll all be worth it.

My phone vibrated, letting me know I got a new text message. Ugh. I am not in the mood for Ralphie's bullshit. The guy's been harassing me every day since school's started again. I doesn't come up to me in person, just these text messages he sends telling me that I should be his friend. Fucking creeper. Luckily I haven't seen Tommy around, but one of these psychopaths is more than enough. Jesus, the guys smile makes him look like Jeff the Killer….

_**Last Chance FRECKLES. How about we end all this by going to the movies?**_

I'm not going to bother replying. That'll be my answer. This guy is nuts. What part of no does he not get?

It's getting late, think I'll take a shower…

**~*~V~*~**

After half a year of being back people aren't staring at me. There's still a few, but not nearly as much as before. But like I said, I'm trying to get in, and get out. Going to college is warming up to me. I think I want to be a vet; it's those damn rabbits fault. Being around animals calms me down, so shouldn't that be the work I go into? It's the only thing I could come up with.

The bell rang, freeing us from this class. Great thing about senior year, I have a free period to do whatever, and that time has just come. I don't do much. I'm usually somewhere at the back of the school, passing the time. Reaching my locker, I put my backpack in my locker, but grabbed my journal and a pen to write with. I already have my cigarettes in and a lighter on me. I headed downstairs to go outside, but I'm getting this feeling that I'm being followed. I turned around. All I see are other students either talking to their friends are going to class. Nothing. Weird. At least I have something to write in my journal.

And all I need to do that is a pen. Must've dropped it somewhere. I have another in my bag, just need to go get it.

"Going somewhere, Freckles?" An oh-too familiar voice said as I came to the stairs. The bell had already rang, sending everyone else to their classes. Now it's just me and _him_.

"What do you want, Ralphie?" I asked turning to face him.

"We need to talk." he said, twirling my missing pen in his fingers. Bastard.

"About?" Why am I giving him the time of day?

"Life, and how yours is going to go up in smoke if you don't do what I'm telling you."

"FOR FUCKSAKE, I DO NOT AND WILL NOT BE YOUR FRIEND. GET IT IN YOUR HEAD!" I yelled at him. This is ridiculous! How many times do I have to repeat myself?

"That's too bad," He sighed. "Now your world is going to have to burn, just like last time."  
>Last time? What does he mean by 'last tim—'<p>

The elementary school fire.

Wait, hold on….

…  
>"You're the one who set the Elementary school on fire, aren't you?" I asked him, this sudden realization hitting me like a ton of bricks. Why haven't I put the pieces together before? He kept talking about 'my world going up in smoke'. I should've seen the clues <em>months<em> ago! And on top of that, there was that kid I ran into on the side of the school! The one that looked like me, just like this guy!

"It's about time you figured that out. Took you long enough," He causally said. "Of course I did! And I'd do it again."

"Why the _hell_ would you do that? You could've killed someone!"

"I don't care. The job got done, pretty damn successfully, too."

"And what would that be?"

"Getting you out of the picture," He said, his face twisting into that disturbing and unsettling Jeff the Killer smile. As quickly as that came, it left, and turned into an anger laden frown. "Do you know how infuriating it is to _**always**_ be compared to _**you**_? 'Hey, you look like that kid who saved Summer vacation,' 'Wow! You must be related to that Detweiler kid, the one who saved summer,' and 'Hey, you must be the guy who took down Benedict!' IT'S MADDENING. Always YOU. AlWAYS. What the FUCK is so special about you? You had to go," He said, smiling again. "Lucky for me, you were messing your own life up. That made it so much easier. All I had to do was wait and find something that you would get blamed for.

"Honestly, I didn't think it was going to work. But then you came and found me, on accident nonetheless. Good thing too. Students saw you coming from around there, where the fire started. So yes, I set Third Street Elementary on fire so you would get blamed, and put away and everyone stopped comparing me to you. And everyone was so eager to get rid of you, and once they did, I came in, and made my ass at home."

"You're sick. All of that because people thought you were me? You don't do that!" I yelled. "You tell people to stop doing that! This is overkill! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm a sociopath. Really I am. Diagnosed at age ten. I tell you this because your life is going to end soon, and no one is going to believe you anyways."

"What? You're going to set this place on fire, too?"

"Smart boy. And then you'll get blamed, and sent away to prison for 15 years, on top of the rest of your parole, rotting away in a cell as your brother grows up without you and everyone else tries to erase any memory they have of you."

"It won't work. I've gotten my friends back, and I haven't caused any trouble since I came here. They'll believe me when I tell them about you!"

"Are you sure about that Freckles? Are you _really _sure?"

"Yes. You're not going to set the school on fire," I turned away from him and headed outside. Forget the pen. I need to take a walk. "And you now they'll believe me, too."

**~*~V~*~**  
>I'm such an idiot for not figuring this out sooner. I went to Juvie because of Ralphie! That sick asshole! People <em>thought<em> I was psychopath when I was little? Meet Ralphie! He takes that shit to a whole new level! At least I'm not a psychopath; psychopathic tendencies are something completely different!

Not that much really. I just have a few traits of psychopaths that I control. This guy is full on sociopath! At least psychopaths work to only benefit themselves. That not enough for sociopaths, no, everyone around them have to suffer too, and this one just so happened to target me!

Fuck.

I needed to take a walk, so I'm walking through the woods behind the student parking lot. I have a while until my next class, so I'll walk a little more before going back.

This is all over petty shit! Just because we look alike. Petty.

I walked for a few more minutes before turning back. Halfway there, I looked up and saw smoke coming from the direction of the school.

He didn't…..

I dropped my journal and ran back to the school. When I was close enough, I saw students coming out of the school and gathering in a group in the parking lot. Damn it! I shouldn't underestimate that nutjob!

I heard fire trucks coming down the road to put the fire out. This one's worse than the Elementary school. Windows were broken, the fire brazing and quickly spreading through the whole building looking for places that haven't been touched.

I stopped running and walked towards everyone, but they all moved away from me, some looking away, some sending glares.

"What?" I asked them.

"Like you don't know!" Someone from the crowd yelled.

"You just had to set this place on fire, too, didn't you?" Another yelled.

"Wait, what? You don't think _I _started this fire, do you?" I asked them in disbelief. The crowd erupted in response, all them saying some varied of the word 'yes.'

GODDAMMIT. This shit again!

"Well I didn't!"

"Yeah, right!"

"Like we're supposed to believe that!"

"We should've known you'd keep doing this!"

I don't feel like dealing with this right now. I turned and headed home, right as the fire trucks arrived.

**~*~V~*~**

I slammed the door shut as I came home. Ralphie's going to ruin my life _again_! And what makes it worse is that it's easy as fuck for him to do it. I bet any minute now, the police are going to come knocking on my door and arrest me. They don't have any proof except my record and what everyone is saying, but they're not going to hesitate to use it against me. My phone vibrated. I message from Ashley. I should've checked if she was okay; that fire was horrible. But she's safe; she has to be in order to text.

**TJ what's going on?**

I went home after the fire, why? Are you okay

**Yeah, I'm fine. Everyone got out. Please tell me you're not the one who started it**

No! Of course not! I'm being framed!

I stopped texting when there were three loud knocks at the door. They're here. I opened the door and was met with two police officers who didn't hesitate to handcuff me and throw me into the police car.

All I know is somewhere, Ralphie is laughing his ass off about all of this.

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><p><strong>O.O <strong>

**Look at what is happening here! Okay, who's POV should I do for the next chapter? I'm tempted to do it through someone else's eyes, so I'm willing to listen to who you all want to hear from!**

**Please review!**


	79. Chapter 79

**Oh my goodness! Did that last chapter infuriate you all? Of course it did; you all told me all about it. Good. But hold on to that feeling because you're going to feel it ten-fold by the end of this story at least once. Not in this chapter though. This chapter is in Mikey's POV, and a few others.**

**Let's get on with the story, shall we?**

**Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~Mikey's POV~*~<strong>

It's been a week since the high school went up in flames. You don't need to look inside to see the extent of the damage, just looking at the outside will tell you everything. It's a miracle that no one was hurt. Much to everyone's dismay, we still have to go to school while the repairs are getting done. We all just go to school in the evening at the elementary school, which is nostalgic in its own right.

I'm more upset that at the plays planned for this year are cancelled. All the props and costumes were lost in the fire, along with the scripts. So there goes that. It sort of makes me feel better that the sports teams can't practice, let alone have games against other teams. Not that I was hoping something bad would happen to them too, it just sort of feels good since they get a bigger budget, but the entire thing is tragic.

It didn't take any time at all for people to start blaming TJ for the fire, no time at all. Literally. I mean when everyone was trying to get out of the school I heard people blaming him before they got outside. It hasn't let up since, and I can sort of see why they're quick to blame him. He was charged for the fire at the elementary school (which by the way, doesn't look like it was _ever_ set on fire, so brownie points of the repairmen). I think everyone is pinning this on him.

Except for me, and surprisingly enough, Spinelli. I think Ashley A. has her own suspicions too, but I'm not sure. She looks like she does. She's been quiet this past week, and she's usually one of the biggest loud mouths alone with her friends.

Gus and Vince are more on the side of 'he did it, we all should have seen it coming and we shouldn't be surprised.' Gretchen's more on the fence, not being on one side or the other.

"What do you think, Speedy?" I asked, picking up the little bunny TJ gave me. I didn't get a response other than a twitch of his nose. "Why would he set a fire, knowing that he would get caught and locked away _again_?" I put Speedy down on the floor and let him hop around. I need to focus on my homework, but this is really bugging me. There are too many reasons why he would NOT want to get in trouble.

His girlfriend for one. Some of us (by some I mean Spinelli) might not like (hate) Ashley A., but he's happier since they started dating.

And then there's his little brother. It doesn't take a genius to see that he loves Zack to death and would do anything to protect him. With that, him starting a fire makes no sense since he knows he would automatically get the blame.

But then there's that counterargument that always pops up in my head.

He said he had psychopathic tendencies and that he's a pyromaniac. That's reason enough to say that he did do it.

My head hurts…

**~*~Spinelli's POV~*~**

Finally! It took me over an hour, but I finally managed to get Zack to go to sleep! And after answering a million questions from him, all of which were about where TJ was and when he was coming back. Poor kid, he just wants his big brother back. Which brings up an important issue…..

I grabbed by bag and pulled out a medium sized unmarked black book. I found it outside when I was walking my dog. When I opened it out of curiosity I saw TJ's name written inside I say I was surprised would be an understatement. He guards this book like it has the cure for cancer inside, I found it on the ground like a piece of trash. Usually I would be afraid of reading it, but I think he would understand (and it helps that he's not here to take it way).

Everything in here tells me that TJ didn't set the school on fire. I thought so at first, just like everyone else, and could you blame me? He set the elementary school on fire, and he was lighting smaller fires down by the lake. I would've been crazy to _not_ think that he started this one.

But after reading this book, I've changed my mind.

He talks so much about Zack and how he's going to teach him how to swim and to ride a bike, how he's going to take him to the amusement park, all the things you would expect a guy to do with his little brother. He talks about Ralphie too with plenty of hatred. Ralphie CAN be a little overbearing at times but not enough to talk about him like he's the devil incarnate.

Okay, so I don't think that he started the fire. Great. How am I supposed to help him get out of jail? Do I have any _real_ proof that he didn't start the fire? All I have is this journal and I doubt the courts would take this seriously. They would laugh.

If I am going to find anything, it better hurry up. He's getting another trial next week.

"Spinelli?" I heard a small voice say. Oh boy, Zack's up. So much for that. I turned to see him standing in the door way, clutching his teddy bear and a familiar red hat on his head. Yet another reason why his brother should be here with him instead of me. We all know how much that hat means to TJ. He wouldn't give it just _anyone_. "I can't sleep…"

"Oh. Come here." He yawned as he walked over, and I picked him up and sat him down on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"When is TJ coming home?"

"I dunno, buddy. I hope it's soon."

"I miss him," he yawned. "I think the bunnies miss him too. Spinelli?"

"Yeah?"

"If you find TJ, can you tell him that I miss him?"

"…yeah. I'll tell him."

He yawned again and snuggled into me. He'll fall asleep soon enough.

**~*~Ashley's POV~*~**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T GET HIM A LAWYER?!"

I've spent the last hour talking to my dad trying to convince him to stop trying to convince _me_ that my boyfriend was a bad choice for me. It was bad enough after I found out I was pregnant. When I managed to get the two of them in the same room, dad ripped him a new one, and I can sort of understand that. Dad's usually get pissed at the guy who gets their teenage daughter pregnant. I get that. I totally get that.

But since the fire, Dad has kicked it up. Everyone thinks TJ lit the school on fire. I heard that soon after the fire, he was arrested, and that doesn't help any. I don't know about what his friends think, but I don't think he did it. It's kind of hard to think that your boyfriend who got you pregnant and, in supporting your decision to give the baby up for adoption, got a job to pay for medical bills set the school on fire.

But not everyone agrees with that, including my dad.

I'm seriously _this_ close to getting one of those techno geeks at school to hack into the banks and transferring money from my parents account into mine. My boyfriend I going to need a lawyer and I'll be damned if he doesn't get the best one!

Those court appointed lawyers are complete shit.

"I am not doing anything that could possibly get that criminal out of jail! He's where he belongs, in jail and away from you!" Dad yelled. He's not going to budge, and I'm wasting my time arguing with him. Instead of continuing this argument that isn't going anywhere fast, I got up and left the room.

I wish I could go and visit TJ. I tried three times and every time I was told that he couldn't have any visitors. What a load of crap. I need to talk to him to ask if there's anything I can do to get him out. And it's not like I can _call_ him. I don't think you can call, and they'll be like 'oh yeah, you can talk to him.' Yeah right.

I sat down on my bed, completely ignoring the open math book on the edge. I'll get it done later.

**~*~Randall's POV~*~**

"Come on, come on. There has to be _something_ in one of these videos…."

I leaned back in my chair and watched the tenth video play on my computer. Next to my desk and my bed are stacks and stacks of cassettes and disks of recordings. What everyone (or mostly everyone) doesn't know is that I have cameras and recording devices planted all over the school. All of it gets saved on the recorders in my locker through Wi-Fi or some shit. I got the whole thing set up as a favor from some kid who I helped get out of trouble. Guy's a whiz at technology.

I only managed to get what I had in my locker before the fire broke out because I was next to it.

It's going to be hell paying for new equipment.

But back to why I'm bothering to look through all these videos. The fire started SOMEWHERE in the school. with all the cameras I have (or had, they're all probably melted into a clump of metal and wires), chances are, I caught the fire starting. If I caught it, then I know where it started. If I know where it started, then I can rewind back enough to see who started it. THAT'S what I'm looking for. Who started the fire.

'Cause I'm pretty damn sure Detweiler didn't do it. Call me crazy, but I'm skeptical.

I'm more suspicious of this Ralphie character. I've been digging deep for _anything_ on this guy and I haven't found anything. If it was anyone else I would've found out their entire life story. Not this guy. Nope.

It hurts my self-esteem. I pride myself on this sort of thing. It's sort of my training before I work for the FBI.

Back to the subject. I'm more suspicious about those that I can't immediately find info on. I expect to find the basics; previous homes if they moved, academic records, health records, any brushes with the law. Couldn't find any of that.

Weird.

I can hear something moving behind me. I turned to see what it is, and saw my pet rabbit tugging at one on the tapes near the bottom at one of the piles.

"How did you get out of your cage….?" I asked. I paused the video and walked over to pick Espion up. I had to change her name. Espion, short for 'espionage', another word for spying. I think she likes it. She responds to that better than her last name, whatever it was. I swear, she's a little spy herself, always getting out of her cage without me noticing. Or maybe I'm too wrapped up in my work, I don't know.

I hate saying that. I don't know. Ew.

She hopped out of my hands and started tugging at the same tape, the pile threatening to tip over and hurt her.

"Stop that," I said, picking her up again. "You're going to hurt yourself." I looked at the pile again, and, just for the hell of it, I picked the tape out of the pile. I only have a minute left of the one I playing. Guess I'll watch this one next. It can't hurt.

I carried little Espion and sat back down in my chair. How long have I been watching this stuff? I remember it was light out, and it's midnight now. I should go to sleep.

'Should' being the key word.

There has to be something on one of these tapes.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

These people have been interrogating me for the last two weeks trying to get me to confess to lighting the school on fire. I didn't confess the first time I've been in this room and I'm not going to confess this time. Nope. Not going to happen.

Like it would make a difference. I didn't confess the last time but they still charged me and the rest is history. I swear they do this for their own satisfaction. Get me to confess to make them feel good about themselves.

Bullshit.

And where the hell is my one free phone call?

Who _would_ I call? My parents. Nah. They already know I'm here, I don't see how that would help. Maybe Principal Prickly? Perhaps.

Even after all these years I still call him 'principal'.

JoJo? I could. I know Zack _thinks_ he can take care of the rabbits by himself, but he's still just a three year old. He'll have trouble doing the hard work. JoJo'll take care of them. Still, I think I'll call Prickly.

Can you imagine the time I can get if (when) they find me guilty for this? I'm still serving time for the last fire that I didn't set. If I ever get my hands on that sick bastard Ralphie, I'll kill him.

No, not kill. Ruthlessly torture until he's begging for his life to end. Then I'll beat him some more and make his death slow and painful.

I still have 3 years left to serve! If they get me for anywhere near as much time for the last fire I can be in jail well into my 30's! This whole thing whomps. Heh. I haven't said that in a while.

I sure can use one of my 'plans' right about now.


	80. Chapter 80

**Over 200 reviews! Thank you all so very much!**

**College, such a drain on your creativity. I fear this semester because I have a Creative Writing class and as a part of it, I have to write two pieces, both of which have to be at least 20 pages. So yeah, there's that.**

**On a lighter note, did you know that Kin Bob and Arnold from Hey Arnold was voiced by the same person?**

**Read On!**

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><p>Somewhere on the edge of a small and insignificant town was a large gray building meant for hold those who are not wanted outside the concrete walls. Somewhere inside this old and worn out gray building were several rooms set aside for the family and friends of the people inside to visit and talk. It was inside one of these rooms that TJ found himself conversing with his former principal.<p>

When the two officers who were trying to get him to confess had finally given up, he was taken to his old gray building to await his trial. It was not lie the juvenile detention center he was used to. No, this was an actual jail that held adults (and teenagers being tried as adults for their supposed crimes). He was surprised that he didn't get sent here sooner. Those interrogating him were more persistent in breaking him down than he thought. Wouldn't they just give up and put him behind bars just to get rid of him? Nope. Not at all. Quite the opposite, really.

When he arrived, it was a strange feeling that swept through him. The bleak and hopelessness that radiated off the walls were familiar. The shock that would usually come with going inside such a building didn't go through the false blonde. It was welcoming in a morbid way.

Still, TJ didn't plan on staying there for long enough to learn the hierarchy and climb the social ladder, though that looked like it would be the case. He knew the court and the public were all too eager to put him away for the fire that he didn't have a hand in starting.

He wasn't sure if a lawyer would help (his last one was a complete asshole who probably made his defense weak on purpose), but at this point, it was all he had.

"You have no idea how thankful I am for this, sir," TJ spoke into the phone on his side of the glass. For their own safety, the rooms for visiting were divided into two halves, one for the residents of the building and the other for those visiting the residents. This division was made by a wall, half of which was glass so that both sides could see each other as they spoke through the phones attached.

"It's no problem, Detweiler. This way you stand a better chance than with one of those court appointed lawyers," said the former principal.

"Yeah. You know what my last lawyer said once the case was over? He said that he was against me from the beginning and that he was happy I was found guilty. Can you believe that?" TJ asked. "By the looks of things, this lawyer is going to believe the same thing. How's things going in the outside world?"

"As you probably expect it to be. People are eager to see your trial. They're even more eager to see you put away," Said Prickly. "It truly is a shame. Rumor has it that they have no 'real' evidence that point to you. They're only charging you because they think you started the last fire.

"I ran into your family while at the grocery store. Well, actually, Zack ran into me while I was there. He asked me if I knew where you were. I told him I didn't know and he said that he misses you."

"I am really tempted to break out of this place, to hell with the consequences," TJ said, deep in his own thoughts. He expect Zack to miss him, but not so much that he would go up to people and ask where he was. "I guess it's safe to say mom and dad won't tell him where I am. Good. I don't want him knowing that I'm in jail." A bell rang throughout the rooms, signaling the end of visiting hours. "Thanks for visiting, sir. It's nice to know _someone_ out there believes me."

"I'm sure there are more people out there who believe you too." The two said their goodbyes before separating. He joined the growing line of inmates waiting to be taken back to their cells. The line TJ was standing in was much shorter than the others for one reason; it was the line for those waiting for their trials. He, and the others waiting were not placed with the inmates that were already sentenced. No, they were put in cells all by themselves. The thought of having a cell to himself make him thankful for the privacy, but there was none. One of the walls were nothing but bars, giving those who walked by a full view of what was 'inside'.

TJ didn't like that at all.

He reached his cell and stepped inside. The 'door' was closed by the guards walking each of them back. He laid on his bed, which was a sorry excuse for a bed, and starred at the ceiling. It was all there was to do. No books, definitely no TV, and no phone to call everyone he knew to see who, if any one was on his side.

He was confident that Ashley believed he was innocent. Why wouldn't she? He did everything a good boyfriend would do; nice dates, listening and talking, and getting a job when she found out she was pregnant.

"At least that's what I think a good boyfriend does. Girls like it when you do nice things for them, right?" He asked himself. "Right. Okay. It's safe to say that she'll be on my side."

And what about the others? What about Spinelli, Vince, Mikey, Gretchen, and Gus? Would any of them believe that he was innocent? He had doubts with a few of them. Vince and Gus? Those two were out. Gus, because he was suspicious of every seemingly strange action that TJ made and had no fear of asking a hundred questions about it. And Vince? Well, Vince wasn't that far off from Gus; he was quieter about it.

Mikey? Maybe he won't think so, not immediately at least. He was one of the few that gave him another chance. What about Spinelli and Gretchen? He couldn't come up with a confident answer.

Ralpie was going to pay.

He couldn't do anything while he was stuck in that cell. But he had connections. JoJo, Bandit, and Specs. Those guys can definitely help.

"I swear to God, Ralphie, you are going to suffer for ruining my life," He said to himself.

**~*~V~*~**

"So he in jail, right?"

"Right."

Sitting in a dim and dirty basement, two males at on an old a filthy couch. One was younger, and lived in the house they were currently in. The other, was just making one of many visits they had arranged for the goal they both shared. To reach this goal, they planned in advance for years, and it was currently coming into fruition, and they couldn't be happier.

Thomas, also known as Tommy Gun by the protagonist of this story, nodded and smiled.

Ralphie, the younger look-alike to our protagonist, lay back in his seat.

"Now what?" Ralphie asked his older cousin. While he held the bigger grudge, he lacked the talent for scheming against someone he disliked willfully. But he had the motivation, oh he had the motivation and the _need_ to make those he hated suffer in every way that was possible.

"Get his brother," Tommy said. He voice was empty of emotion. He inhaled a lung full of the cigarette he was smoking and paused before letting it back out. He smiled, thoughts filled with disgusting and unsettling thoughts that hadn't entered his mind and made itself comfortable since the five months before he was sentenced to Duval.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Ralphie asked. "He's always watched!"

"Be a little creative, yeah? You look like his brother, and the brat hasn't seen you before to learn the differences," Tommy thought out loud. "He'd think you were Freckles and run up to you on his own."

"Great. Fantastic. But _he's always watched._ His parents would know I wasn't his brother, and so will everyone else in this hick town."

"He goes to daycare," Said the older male. "A whole bunch of parents are in there when the day is over. Just waltz in there, he'll be happy that his…..'brother' is back, and go with you. Bring him here. I need some….ah, _entertainment._ It's been so long since I'm been properly satisfied."

"And when you get caught?"

"When I get caught, I'll get sent to jail of course. And I'll destroy what's left of the freckled bastard. Can you imagine the look on his face when he finds out? Better yet, that brat won't ever trust him again. He'll be crushed hearing that his brother 'hates' him. It's perfect."

"When?"

"When? I'll tell you. Don't chicken out."

"Oh I promise I won't."

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><p><strong>Okay, people. I am so willing to write a couple of 'filler' chapters at this point. Does anyone have any ideas? It's okay if no one does, but I'm curious if anyone wants to see anything.<strong>

**Please Review!**


	81. Chapter 81

**Well damn. I expected shocked responses, but damn. I guess I better not do filler chapters as I would hate to torture my readers. Perhaps a few at the end, but definitely not now.**

**All the hate for Ralphie and Tommy! Great. Hold on to that hate for a minute and put it in a jar because it's going to explode soon.**

**Read On!**

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><p><strong>~*~Randall's POV~*~<strong>

I ran my hand through my hair as a leaned back in my chair. Letting out a tired breath, he turned his chair around and looked at the two separate piles of tapes and recordings. One pile, the one I picked tapes out of to watch, had finally dwindled down to only a few. Enough to cover in one day. The other pile where I sat the tapes he had already watched had grown to impressive amount. I smiled. It took him an entire week to go through those tapes, and I was close to finished.

But my smile faltered and turned into a frown. A weeks' worth of tape and nothing that would show who actually started the fire. Plenty of them showed the fire spreading to where ever it was recording. Maybe I'm getting close.

What time is it? I looked at my digital clock on my dresser and it read 2 am. I've been making a bad habit of staying up late. So much so that _this _is early for me. The video I have paused right now only has about 30 minutes left. I'll watch that, and then call it a night.

Who the hell am I trying to fool? I'm going to be up until the sun rises. Good thing it's Saturday.

I turned back around to face my desk and put the headphones that were plugged in. I honestly work better without the headphones, but I don't want to wake Espion up. I pressed play and the video continued. This one is from a camera I have placed at the bottom of a staircase. All I've seen were students going to class, the occasional couple skipping class to make-out behind the steps. Nothing unusual so far.

I need to find something soon; Detweiler's trial has already started. I've watched it on TV, they're all just itching to put him away.

Hmm…..

What's Ralphie doing? I watched as he paced next to the staircase after it emptied. He paced for another few minutes and stopped when Detweiler came down the stairs and out of view. It doesn't look like Ralphie was noticed, but then Detweiler came back into view. I paused, pressed a few buttons to focus in on their conversation and pressed play.

_ "Going somewhere, Freckles?"_

_ What do you want, Ralphie?"_

_ "We need to talk."_

_ "About?"_

_ "Life, and how yours is going to go up in smoke if you don't do what I'm telling you."_

_ "FOR FUCKSAKE, I DO NOT AND WILL NOT BE YOUR FRIEND. GET IT IN YOUR HEAD!"_

_ "That's too bad. Now your world is going to have to burn, just like last time._

_ "You're the one who set the Elementary school on fire, aren't you?"_

_ "It's about time you figured that out. Took you long enough. Of course I did! And I'd do it again."_

_ "Why the hell would you do that? You could've killed someone!"_

_ "I don't care. The job got done, pretty damn successfully, too."_

_ "And what would that be?"_

_ "Getting you out of the picture. Do you know how infuriating it is to always be compared to you? 'Hey, you look like that kid who saved Summer vacation,' 'Wow! You must be related to that Detweiler kid, the one who saved summer,' and 'Hey, you must be the guy who took down Benedict!' IT'S MADDENING. Always YOU. AlWAYS. What the FUCK is so special about you? You had to go. Honestly, I didn't think it was going to work. But then you came and found me, on accident nonetheless. Good thing too. Students saw you coming from around there, where the fire started. So yes, I set Third Street Elementary on fire so you would get blamed, and put away and everyone stopped comparing me to you. And everyone was so eager to get rid of you, and once they did, I came in, and made my ass at home."_

_ "You're sick. All of that because people thought you were me? You don't do that! You tell people to stop! That was overkill! What the fuck is wrong with you?"_

_ "I'm a sociopath. Really I am. Diagnosed at age ten. I tell you this because your life is going to end soon, and no one is going to believe you anyways."_

_ "What? You're going to set this place on fire, too?"_

"_Smart boy. And then you'll get blamed, and sent away to prison for 15 years, on top of the rest of your parole, rotting away in a cell as your brother grows up without you and everyone else tries to erase any memory they have of you."_

_ "It won't work. I've gotten my friends back, and I haven't caused any trouble since I came here. They'll believe me when I tell them about you!"_

_ "Are you sure about that Freckles? Are you really sure?"_

_ "Yes. You're not going to set the school on fire, and you know they'll believe me too."_

I watched Detweiler walk away from Ralphie and out of view. I might not have found the source of the fire yet, but this is something. I'm getting somewhere.

Here it is. Ralphie confessing that _he's _the one who started the fire at Third Street, and threatening to burn the high school. And he might've.

I better get a Red Bull; I'm going to up for the rest of the night.

**~*~TJ's POV~*~**

They're going to throw the book at me, I know it. I can see it in their eyes. They're going to throw it at me, beat me onto the floor with it, and stomp it into my face.

I would prefer that to literally happen than to be put in jail. Too bad for me, huh?

My trial was over before it started. How are they able charge me without any evidence? That's bullshit! They shouldn't blame me just because I was falsely charged the last time.

Goddamn you, Ralphie. You too, Tommy, you sick bastard.

I'd kill you two, if I could get away with it, but I'd get caught. I'd get put away and wouldn't see Zack ever again. I'm not going to put that at risk. I'm more willing to take my chances with this corrupt trial.

I hope Zack is okay. Principal Prickly said he asked him where I was. No doubt he's asking other's too. I don't want to worry the little guy. I miss him. I hope I get to see him before I'm sentenced.

I bumped into Ashley and hour before the trial began a week ago. She hugged me and said she believed me. Now I know for sure she's on my side. Knowing that made the first day bearable. Still, I wanted to strangle everyone on the jury who looked at me with all the hate in the world.

Assholes.

I managed to call JoJo, Bandit, and Specs, too. They'll be down here by tomorrow. Hopefully I can see them before the trial continues.

….

Have you ever gotten the feeling that something bad is going to happen? I've had that feeling for the last couple of days and I can't get rid of it. Maybe it's me knowing I'm going to be put away.

Yeah, that's it.

**~*~V~*~**

The next day came too fast for my taste. Here I am, sitting outside the courtroom, waiting to be called in for the trial to continue. They were generous enough to give me a suit to wear for God knows what reason. The rest of my life is on the line, but I have to look good for it! Right.

The sarcasm is oozing out of my thoughts. I need a drink. A nice long, _stiff_ drink.

At around 2:30, it's time for us to go in. Fantasic.

**~*~Meanwhile~*~**

Running down the street while clutching a video tape in his hands, Randall asked himself why he didn't have a car. It would be very useful in his current situation. Currently, he was trying to get to the courthouse as fast as he could to show what was on the tape he was clutching so tightly. After hours of searching through the remaining tapes, he found where the fire had started and how.

And it was all Ralphie's fault. It was Ralphie who found a hole in the wall in one of the art rooms. It was Ralphie who stuffed paper soaked in some sort of accelerant. And it was Ralphie who pulled out a match, and lit it on fire. Turns out the fire was able to spread so fast because it went through the empty space in the walls, burning through the old insulation.

He needed to show this to everyone in court.

**~*~V~*~**

"You better not back out on this, _Ralphie."_

"Look, I've told you a thousand times before, I'm not backing out."

Across the street from Tater Tots Daycare, Ralphie sat on a bench with his cellphone against his ear. He was waiting, waiting for his time came for him to casually go inside and take Zack to his house. He had to be patient; going in too soon would raise suspicions and the whole plan would fall to shambles. No, he couldn't, wouldn't, let that happen. Tommy was having those same thoughts at the moment, the only difference being between the two was that Tommy was more willing to vocalize his opinion.

"Where the hell are you anyways?" Ralphie asked his cousin.

"I'm outside the courthouse, idiot. This case is taking longer than….than I expected…." Tommy's voice trailed off. Ralphie listened as he heard his cousin talk to someone else. "I'll call you back, Ralphie. Don't forget the plan."

**~*~LET'S SEE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH TOMMY OKAY~*~**

Tommy ended the phone call with Ralphie and turned to who had caused him to cut the conversation short. He put the phone in his pocket and maintained his calm composure.

"Is there anything you need, _Jojoba?"_

"What the hell are you doing here _Thomas?_" JoJo asked, crossing his arms. Behind him stood Specs and Bandit, and all three were dressed in suits for where they were heading. Tommy couldn't see through JoJo's shades, but was damn sure JoJo's glare could kill him where he stood.

Like he gave a damn.

"I'm just visiting my cousin. Is there anything wrong with visiting family?"

"And you just so happen to be in front of the courthouse of the person you've tormented in juvie."

"Oh, is Freckles in there?" He said in faked surprise. "I didn't know."

"Bullshit."

The two of them stood there, looking at each other in silence. It was only briefly interrupted by a curly redhead rushing past them and into the building.

"Stay away from him," JoJo said before turning and walking away. "He doesn't need any more of your shit."

Tommy smirked with no intention of listening to JoJo. Instead, he looked at his watch.

'Oh look,' He thought. 'It's about time for kids to leave school…'

**~*~across town~*~**

Ralphie stepped inside of Tator Tot's Daycare, keeping a look out for a toddler who hasn't found their parents. He had no clue what the kid looked like, so it was all he had to work with. He walked around a little bit, hoping to get spotted by the kid he was looking for and that he would run up to him on his own.

"TJ! TJ!"

Bingo.

Ralphie turned just in time to see a black haired, blue eyed little boy run up and give him a hug.

"Hey….Zack." Tommy learned his name from the confrontation he had with TJ months ago. "I missed you, buddy."

"I missed you, too TJ. Where'd you go?"

"I uh, had to go visit someone very far way," He said, picking him up. "But I'm here now, okay?" Ralphie waited for Zack's response. He was surprised when Zack didn't answer right away. The little boy looked at his face as if he was examining every detail.

"Did you get a new eye, TJ?" Zack asked him.

"Uh….yeah. While I was gone I got a new one. Do you like it?"

"I guess…."

"Ready to go home, Zack?" Zack nodded.

"Can I sit on your shoulders?"

"Sure." Ralphie lifted him on his shoulders and left the daycare, succeeding in his mission.

"You lost a lot of your freckles, TJ."

"Oh? I didn't notic-"

"Your hair is shorter and darker, too."

"I got a hairc—"

"I liked it before, when you make it blonde or the color it was before that."

"But I like it like tha—"

"Why are your eyes darker? That's weird. I don't like this, TJ. Change it back."

"I can't change it back, Zac—"

"Why are we going home this way? We don't go home this way. The ice cream place isn't this way either."

"We're going somewhere new, Zack. We're going to go see a friend of mine."

"No."

"No?"

"No. I don't want to go! TJ take me home or I'll tell mommy and daddy!"

"It'll only be for a little bit—"

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Zack screamed as he pulled and tugged at Ralphie's hair. "I DON'T WANT TO!"

"Stop that, you little brat!" Ralphie quickly took Zack off of his shoulders and held him by the back of the collar of his shirt.

"You're not TJ!"

"Yes I am, Zack! Don't you recognize me?" He tried.

"You're not TJ! TJ looks different! You're different! Your voice is different! TJ wouldn't hold me like you're doing! Let me go before I beat you up!"

'Damn kid figured me out!' Ralphie screamed internally. He looked around for anyone who might spot him. Seeing no one, he covered the boys mouth and ran home.

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><p><strong>Little kids are smarter than we realize. They notice little things that a lot of adults don't pick up on. We really shouldn't be surprised that they pick up on so much. They're constantly learning. CONSTANTLY. <strong>

**Please Review.**


	82. The Big Climax

**I have an excuse, really, I do. But I'm sure you all want to get to the story so I'll save it for the end of the chapter.**

**Go forth and read on!**

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><p><strong>~*~TJ's POV~*~<strong>

I can feel the hate of the jury burning into the sides of my head. If looks could kill, I would be nonexistent. I throw the same look back at them and few turned away. The prosecution isn't wasting any of his time tearing me apart.

_It's actually kind of funny, since he knows nothing about you. Well, us._

'Hush, Alex.'

Are they going to call me up to the bench or whatever it's called? I'm waiting for that. I'll tear this guy a new one. His case is full of too any holes! He doesn't have anything to base this shit on! Oh, you _think _I started a fire when I was younger so you think I started this one? You sir, are brilliant.

_And you call me the smartass._

''Should I be considered with you? Does your existence mean I have split personalities? I mean, I would explain a lot.'

_That depends. On the whole split personality, I doubt it. Thinking to yourself is more normal than you think. And you haven't been angry lately, 'cept at Ralphie and this court, but most people would be, I suppose._

'Then do me a favor and be quiet,' I thought.

I stretched. This wooden chair feels like concrete. It helps keep you awake, I'll give it that much. I need to stay awake so I can hear these people tell me how long I'm going to be locked up. A lot of people are here for the drama. What, their life isn't interesting enough?

Mom left a while ago to pick Zack up from day-care. She won't be coming back. None of us want Zack to see this. It's one of the few things we can agree on.

Suddenly, the doors to the courtroom opened. Everyone turned around to see who had the nerve to try and interrupt this oh-so important trial. I turn and see Randall running in, obviously out of breath.

"Randall?" I questioned, standing out of my seat. "What the hell?"

When he reached the front of the courtroom, the bailiff restrained him, and whatever he was holding in his hand hit the floor.

"Let me go," he said as he twisted in turned in a weak attempt to get free. "I have something that all of need to see!" I stepped from behind my table and picked up the tape that he dropped. Is this it? It looks like nothing, but hey, if it'll stall my conviction, then I'm all for it. There's a television and VCR/DVD player that sat in the courtroom. It hasn't been used, but it's there just in case.

"What's on it, Randall?" I asked him. The bailiff must've figured that he was too weak to hurt anybody and let him go.

"It's shows where and who started the fire," Randall said as he straightened his clothes from the tussle. "They need to see it."

"Can we?" I asked the Judge. He gave a gesture that said 'go ahead' and I walked over to the TV. After I turned it on, I put the tape in and it began to play. On the screen, me and Ralphie where in the hallway, under the staircase. I turned it up so everyone in the room could hear. I few minutes passed and I walked away.

'Is this it?' I thought to myself. This doesn't help my case at all. Then the video continued. Ralphie stayed under the staircase. For a few minutes all the video showed was him, but then it showed him taking out a box of matches and lighting a fire before walking away. The fire spread and eventually the smoke became too much for the camera to see through.

"See?" Randall said after the video cut off. "TJ didn't start the fire. Ralphie did!"

"This video could be fake!" Someone yelled from their seat. The whole room erupted with everyone voicing their opinion. The loud bangs of the gavel silenced everyone. Good. Everything in this room has an echo….

"This video is to be reviewed to make sure there isn't any tampering," The Judge said. "Until then, I call a recess." He ended with a bang of him gavel.

"Randall, how did you get that video?" I asked him. After everyone had left the courtroom, we stepped outside to avoid the crowd.

"I have cameras all over the school. Well, had. When the fire started I rushed to my locker and grabbed all that I had recorded," He explained. Always the nosey snitch, ain't he? "When you were charged with the fire I started going through them to see if any of them had recorded where the fire started. I just found that a few hours ago."

"Randall, you just saved my ass," I said with the utmost sincerity. "I owe you so much of this…"

"It's no problem. Something just seemed off with that Ralphie guy when I couldn't find anything on him," He said. "Wish I could've found it earlier so that I wouldn't have had to run over here…..hey, dude, is something wrong with your mom?"

I had no idea what he was talking about so I looked around until I found my parents. My mom was here, which is weird because she would normally be home with Zack. Something _was_ wrong. Now only is Zack not here, but mom's crying.

"I dunno. I'll go see," I said as I began to walk over to them. "Thanks for all your help." I my way over to them, and I got this feeling of foreboding. "Mom? Is something wrong?"

"I can't find Zack," She said, tears streaming down her face. "I went to go pick him up from daycare and they said that you had picked him up, but that makes no sense because you were here the entire time…"

I stopped listening when I heard 'you had picked him up.'

Ralphie.

That sick son of a bitch.

I'm going to jail after all 'cause I'm going to kill that motherfucker.

"Randall," I said, pulling him aside from the crowd. "What's Ralphie's address?"

"Um, 105 Kingston Street, why?" He asked.

"No reason. I'm just going to commit premeditated murder," I said. Looking over the crowd, I could see a few officers who were probably looking for me. Nope. I've got shit to do. 105 Kingston Street. How far away is that…? Ten minutes by car, too fucking long by foot. I don't have any money to take the bus, so it looks like I'm going by foot.

"Freckles!"

**~*~Normal POV~*~**

Hearing his nickname being called, TJ turned to the source to find JoJo, Bandit, and Specs coming towards him. Any other day he would smile and run up to them, but not now.

"JoJo! You have a car!" TJ shouted.

"Hi to you, too, asshole," JoJo said, folding his arms. "I need to tell you somethin'—"

"Then tell me in your car 'cause we have to _go,_" He said, pulling them away from the crowd. He searched around for JoJo's car and found it not too far away. "C'mon," He said, tugging them along. After much screaming and pushing, they were all in the car, driving down the street as TJ gave them directions.

"Where the hell are we going, Freckles?" JoJo asked as he made a left turn.

"To get my brother from this sick bastard that _just so happens _to be related to Tommy," He said. "My mom said that she went to go pick Zack up from daycare and one of the teachers said that he was picked up by me. It sure as hell wasn't me because I was in court! The only person who would think of doing this for no other reason than to anger me is the same asshole who sent me to juvie—and _why_ are you under the speed limit?"

"I'm not goin' under the speed limit. I'm going ten over," JoJo said he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. "We need to tell you somethin'."

"Tommy was outside the court when we got there," Said Bandit. "He didn't say anything, but that always means he's up to something."

"JoJo, turn down here. We're taking a short cut," TJ said, pointing to the next right turn. "If that pedophile lays a finger on Zack _my __fist__ is going through his __chest__."_

**~*~MEANWHILE~*~**

Ralphie slammed the front door of his house close with one hand and held Zack with the other. During the quick run home he had almost dropped the little boy as he restlessly squirmed to get out of his grip. If it wasn't for him being older and faster, Zack would've escaped relatively easy because of his size and the large about of bushes to hide in. That however, was not the case, and Ralphie was able to find him.

"Stop moving, you little brat," Ralphie yelled, tightening his grip. "Tommy! Are you in here?" Zack kicked and screamed, before doing the one thing he hadn't tried yet: biting. He bit down on Ralphie's arm, sinking his teeth as deep as his three year old jaw would allow. The pain caused his kidnapper to release him and yelp in pain. Though he landed on his bottom, Zack got back on his feet and ran, looking for somewhere to hide. That search didn't last long, because Tommy came in through the back door and scooped him up.

"Look who we have here?" Tommy said with an eerie smile stretched across his face. Zack didn't like that smile, and he because to cry as well as thrash to get out his grasp.

"That little shit bit me!" Ralphie said as he came in the kitchen.

"You can't go around biting people, little guy," Tommy said in a cheery voice. "Didn't your parents tell you not to hurt people? Look, I'll forgive you this time, but only if you play a game with me, okay?"

With little effort, Tommy carried him into the living room with Ralphie following close behind. The two sat on the old and dingy couch. Tommy sat a still fighting Zack on his lap while Ralphie grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. He flicked through the channels for something interesting, but didn't seem to find anything to keep his attention for longer than five seconds. Next to him, Tommy sat with little interest in the TV and more on the toddler in his lap.

His hand crept underneath Zack's shirt, and he ignored Zack protests and cries.

Zack was terrified, and wanted nothing more than his big brother to come in and save him.

"Hey, look at this," Ralphie said. He stopped looking through the channels and settled on the news. The two stopped and listened. The newscast was about the trial, and the two boys joked about how the jury must've already found TJ guilty. Instead of announcing that, the discovery of new 'case changing' evidence that could 'possibly find the defendant not only innocent of the crime he was being charged with now, but acquit him of his charges he was found guilty of years ago' was broadcasted. Before the news story changed, the fact that Zack was missing was also announced.

"Shit," Tommy said. "I bet he's on his way here now. Him and his little group."

"So what are we going to do?" Ralphie asked him.

"There's a sack on the floor next to you. Get it." Ralphie looked down on the floor and found a tan sack. He handed it to Tommy, and with one quick motion, put Zack inside. "We go to plan B." He stood up and headed towards the back door. "Let's go."

**~*~TEN MINUTES LATER~*~**

TJ, JoJo, Bandit, and Specs stood outside of the house after an almost reckless ride to get there. Not giving a fuck about breaking and entering, TJ and JoJo Kicked and rammed into the front door in order to get in. After two minutes of kicking, the door broke wide open and they all rushed inside. Bandit and Specs searched upstairs, JoJo found the basement and searched down there, and TJ had the first floor to himself. He looked through the kitchen, the closets, and the dining room and found nothing. A white t-shirt caught his eye as he passed the living room and he picked it. It was small, the perfect size for a toddler.

He with no one on the first floor, he was about to go in the basement to see if anything was down there, when his cell phone rang. He picked it up as he walked downstairs in the basement.

"Hello?"

"TJ?" It was Ashley's voice. "TJ, you need to get down to the elementary school, _now."_

"I'm sort of busy here, Ashley," He said. He looked at JoJo, who shook his head as an answer if anyone was in the basement.

"Forget whatever you're doing and get down here!" She ordered. "Ralphie's on the school roof and he got your little brother!"

"Okay," he said, forcing himself to be calm. "I'll get down there. Thanks." He ended the call. "Bandit! Specs! Let's go! Ralphie and Tommy are at the elementary school!" He shouted.

"How do you know?" Specs asked. He and Bandit skipped steps to get downstairs.

"I got a call from my girlfriend," TJ said as they got back inside JoJo's car. "They're on top of the roof!"

**~*~FIVE MINUTES LATER~*~ **

On the way to his old school, TJ tried to remember all the passageways and hidden doors that he memorized years ago. He would need to know were those were if he was going to sneak up and get his brother back. They made a quick stop at his house to grab the gun he kept on the top shelf in his closet and gave it to Specs. He didn't trust himself with it. He knew that he would be too overcome with anger to aim right and ran the risk of mistakenly hitting Zack. Specs however, how a much sharper aim, and worked better under pressure.

The four boys parked the car a block away from the school because of the large crowd gathered around. As he approached, TJ could see the outline of the either Ralphie or Tommy as they got closer to the edge and walked away from it. He could also see a small army of police officers holding the crowd back, and a few aiming at the roof. On the playground, several jump bags were hurriedly being inflated.

I took a bit of sneaking around and crawling, but the four made it to the back of the school without being caught. Just like he remembered, a door that was always unlocked was there. He led the others inside, through the familiar halls and stairs until he reached the door to the roof. He didn't kick it open like he wanted to. Instead, he opened it slowly to not attract attention.

It worked, for a few seconds at least. For those few seconds he was able to see that Ralphie was dragging his brother around by the arm as he fought to get his arm free, and Tommy standing close to the edge, looking at the crowd below. He took a few steps forward, and Tommy turned around and smiled.

"It's about time you got here, Freckles," Tommy said. Ralphie faced him, and Zack smiled at the sight of his brother.

"TJ!" Zack shouted in happiness. He tried to run towards him, but was pulled back by Ralphie.

"Give me my brother, Ralphie," He ordered, talking towards him. Ralphie took steps back until he reached the edge of the roof. Staying hidden in the doorway, Specs laid low and tried to get a clear shot at either Ralphie or Tommy, but was failing so far. "Give. Him. Back."

"After we worked so hard to get him?" Ralphie taunted. He picked Zack up and held him close to him. "That's just not going to happen." From a holster hidden by his long t-shirt, he pulled out a gun of his own and held the barrel directly against Zack's head. The toddler began to scream in cry, and tried to get out of Ralphie's grasp.

"Zack, look at me," TJ told him. "Look at me, Zack!" The little boy sobbed and looked at his brother. "Please, stop squirming. Can you do that for me? Please?" Still scared, Zack calmed himself down a enough to stop squirming. "Give him to me, Ralphie. He has nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah, but he means _so much_ to you, doesn't he?" Ralphie taunted. He put his gun away, but stepped onto the ledge. With both hands he held Zack over the edge. TJ took a step forwards with the intention to run, but stopped when Ralphie spoke up again. "Take one more step and I'll drop him."

"What the hell do you want from me?! What do you want, Ralphie?" TJ shouted at him.

"Your life."

"You have it! You already have my life, Ralphie! You had it when I got sent to juvie! What, do you want me _dead?_ Is that what you want?"

"Perhaps," Ralphie pondered. "But your brother's life will hurt you more. Heh, you should see the look on everyone's faces down here. And the police! They want to shoot at me, but can't since I'm holding my hostage over the edge. This is kind of ironic, huh, Freckles? You held a kindergartener over the edge didn't you? And know your brother is being held over the same edge."

"Give him to me, Ralphie. Give him to me, and you can push me over the edge. That's what you want; _my life_. Give him to me and you can have it!" TJ offered as a last resort. "Push me over the edge. I won't even land on the jump bags, I'll hit the cement." Ralphie smiled, ready to take the deal, but Tommy approached him. At the same time JoJo approached TJ.

"You sure you know what you're doing, Freckles?" JoJo asked him.

"Not really, no. I'm going to try and overpower him when I get over there, but I'm not sure if I can," TJ told him, not taking his eyes off Zack. "You grab Zack and get him inside. I'm hoping that I can get the gun away from him, at least. If I get pushed over the edge, then that's it for me I guess, but Zack gets to be safe and that's all I care about right now."

Meanwhile, Ralphie and Tommy were having their own conversation.

"It's bullshit," Tommy said. "He's going to try something. Probably has a gun on him."

"Then go search him! If he has anything on him, I'll toss the brat over," Ralphie said. "Then he'll get pissed, and I'll toss him over too."

"He's up to something. He's got that 'look' in his eyes. Don't wait until he gets close," Tommy said. He whispered the rest in Ralphie's ear. He nodded.

"Well?" TJ shouted at them. "Hurry up!"

"Hold on," Ralphie said. "Tommy's gonna search you." Tommy walked over to him and JoJo stepped back. Tommy patted him down for any sort of weapon, and found none.

"He's good," He said. Before walking back over to Ralphie, he smiled. "Had fun with your brother, _Freckles. _He's a fun kid." Only the knowledge that hitting him would send Zack falling held TJ back after that comment.

"Okay," Ralphie said. Slowly, he stepped down. "Here." He put Zack down on his feet, and he didn't need to be told to run to his brother. TJ kneeled down and took him in his arms.

"Shh, it's okay now, Zack," He tried to sooth the crying boy. "I need you to go with JoJo. You remember JoJo, right? Go to him." He turned around and put Zack back down. JoJo came close enough to pick him up and began to walk back into the school.

Keeping his part of the deal, TJ began to walk towards Ralphie, but he held out his hand.

What happened next happened in slow motion.

Ralphie reached for his gun again, and TJ saw this as him aiming for his brother. He tried to block the bullet from reach Zack with his body.

Two shots rang out, and he felt two piercing red hot waves go through his chest. He hit the ground and tried to take in a breath, but found it to be too difficult. Several more shots rungs out, but they sounded farther away. He coughed as an attempt to get air, but only was able to cough up blood. He heard his name being called out by several voices, but could only make out the high pitched voice of his brother.

He blinked, trying to clear his vision from the blurriness and to shake of the tiredness that was suddenly over coming him, but it only made it worse. It couldn't fight it off as he slowly drifted off.

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><p><strong>Okay, so here's why it took me so long to update. Simply put: college. This semester has me doing a lot more writing than I expected. A big chunk of that writing is <strong>_**creative writing**_** and then critiquing others creative writing, then after getting my feedback on my piece (so far I've only done one, I have another to do), editing it for a literary journal. Then there are the multiple reports for my Judicial Process class, my Holocaust: Moral Choice class, and looking for a summer job. That's where my focus has been. I'm on spring break now, which lets me update this.**

**I do want to say thank you for those who have sent me messages reminding me of this story because honestly I haven't thought about it for a couple of weeks.**

**Now, there are only a few more chapters to this story. At the most, it'll be five, but chances are it'll be less. I do know how I want this story to end! It's just a matter of finding time to write, then keeping focus. I haven't abandoned this story, folks. I've just been busy.**

**Please review!**


	83. Everythings Great

**One more week and I'm out of school for the summer! Aren't all my followers happy? I know I sure am. This chapters short, but it's just to let you all know I'm still alive. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>*Beep*<p>

….

*Beep*

….

*Beep*

I trying looking around for anyone or anything, but couldn't find anything. Only blackness and the small light that surrounded me from some unknown source. I can hear people talking from above but I can't find them. It's like being in a cave, except with plenty of space. I'm not sure what going on, but I do know one thing.

My chest hurts.

It's a searing sensation combined with being stabbed with glass, over and over again.

Let's see…what happened?

I remember being on the roof, ready to beat the shit out of Ralphie after getting Zack away from him. Then really loud pops and I fell. That's all I can remember.

Were those pops gunshots? Is that why my chest hurts like hell? How am I still alive if was shot in the chest? I hope one of the bullets didn't hit Zack, but I need to wake up to find out.

Alright, time to wake up.

_Wake up!_

WAKE. UP.

Wake up. Come on. Eyes, open.

Hold on, I'm doing it. My eyelids feel heavy as lead but I'm doing it, slowly.

Oh, God. Everything's so bright, and I'm exhausted. Can I go back to closing my eyes for a while?

"TJ!"

"He's waking up!"

"Freckles!"

Does everyone have to yell? I can hear them just fine without the screaming, whoever 'they' are. Once the light dimmed a little I was better able to see. There's white everywhere. White walls, white ceiling, and probably white sheets since I'm guessing I'm in a hospital. I blink, and I squeeze my fists because that's all I can move since I'm stiff. How long have I been laying in this bed?

I look around and I see my parents, JoJo, Bandit and Specs, the Spinelli and the others, and Ashley. I can see a few balloons in the corner of my eye, and a few flowers. That was nice of them.

"Hey everybody." I said, or at least that's what I tried to say. It came out as meaningless garble. Everyone looked at me weird. Then the doctor (or who I'm think is the doctor) comes up to me and shines a light in my eye, which is the last thing I need right now. I'm starting to get a headache.

"TJ, if you can understand me, blink twice," Said the doctor. So I did, and the doctor nodded. "Alright. Now, I'm going to take this pen," He paused and took out a pen from his pocket. "And I'm going to poke your foot. If you can feel that, blink twice, okay?"

And he poked my foot, and I blinked twice like he said.

"Good," He said, turning to my parents. "Now we know he's not paralyzed. It's going to take a lot of physical therapy, but he'll be able to walk again. He can't exactly talk right now, but that's common in patients that have recently come out of a coma, and he's been in one for three months. He'll start talking normally sometime within the next few days to a week. Right now, he just needs to rest." The doctor then turns to me and smiles. "You're very lucky to be alive, TJ."

…

…

_Three months?_

I've been in a _coma _for _three months?_

"Freckles?" JoJo asked to get my attention. I looked at him and he continued. "Ralphie shot you after we got Zack away from him. He hit you twice."

"…Z-Zack.." I managed to croak out.

"Zack? Zack's fine, he wasn't hurt. He's a little shaken up, though, but he really wants to see you." I couldn't help but smile at that. I can't wait to see you too, buddy. I just woke up _after three months_ but I'm tired already. I feel my eye's start to close, but I tried to keep them open.

"It's okay, TJ you can go to sleep," Said my Mom. "The doctor said you need your rest. We'll be here when you wake up."

Yeah but I've been asleep for three months. I don't want to wait another three months to see you guys again.

"TJ! TJ!"

It's been a week since I've came out of the coma and I'm able to sit up and talk without a problem. Walking is another issue. I can take a few steps, but that's about it. What else can I expect after being in bed for so long? Today's special though. Todays the day I get to see Zack.

He came running up to my bed as soon as he saw me.

"Hey Zack," I said as I picked him up and set him on the edge of my bed. Mom and Dad came in soon after and sat in the chairs next to my bed. "I've missed you, buddy."

"I missed you too, TJ," Zack said. "I made somethin' for you." He took a piece of folded notebook paper and unfolded it before handing it to me. I took it and saw that there was a picture drawn on it. I can tell it's me from the hair. Parts of it is colored brown and the other parts are yellow. And there's the superman emblem on my chest. "I drew that 'cause you saved me and that makes you a superhero! Do you like it?"

"I love it," I said, and I hugged him. This is just sweet.

We spent the rest of the visit playing games, and talking about what we were going to do once I get out of this hospital until visiting hours were over. As much as I would like to keep talking with Zack, he has daycare in the morning.

I finally learned what happened to Ralphie and Tommy Ralphie was shot by the police soon after he shot me. His wounds were fatal. Tommy was shot too, and he was sent to another hospital where he died soon after. I don't wish death on anybody, but they had it coming for a long time.

In other news, Spinelli, Vince, Gus, Mikey, and Gretchen came by today with this big sack filled with get-well cards from everyone at school. I read every last one of them.

I can finally walk without any assistance. This means I can go home soon. I can't wait. Zack says the rabbits miss me.

My room looks so weird after not being in it for months. As soon as a walked in, the rabbits started hopping like crazy. I opened the cage and they all hopped out. I missed them too.

We had a big dinner that night. All my favorite foods, a big relief from eating that hospital crap. Everyone came over, too. JoJo, Bandit, Specs, Spinelli and the gang, and Ashley. It was great.

Everything's great.


	84. Finality

**Hey folks. No, the last chapter wasn't the final chapter. The one after this is! Sorry I made it sound so final-ish. I didn't mean to. But at least this chapter comes as a bit of a surprise, right?**

**No? Well, alright then.**

**Read On!**

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><p>Three weeks of being stuck in the house was starting to drive TJ a little bit crazy. He liked the pampering and the sleeping until he felt like getting out of bed, but one could only be stuck in any one place before contracting a severe case of cabin fever. But it was hard to argue against it with the doctor's orders including no heavy lifting or over-exertion, rest, and generally to listen to his body when it was telling him to relax.<p>

The visitors helped ward off the cabin fever as they were is only contact with the outside world, though he soon found himself missing school (_school_ of all things). The trial and the three month coma meant that he was severally behind and would have to repeat a grade. He understood, and ultimately decided to not go back to school at all in favor of getting his GED.

But he still wanted to get out of the house. And today is the day.

Currently, he was in Zack's room, sitting on the floor and drawing on the chalkboard wall with his brother next to him. This after one of many nights where Zack would come into his room in the middle to the night 'to make sure he was still there and asked to sleep in the same blamed it on everything that had happened. It was slowly becoming less frequent, and TJ decided to let it runs its course. His parents agreed

"TJ what are you drawin'?" Zack asked him.

"I'm drawing a picture of everybody," TJ said. "See? There's you, mom, dad, JoJo, Spinelli, and the rest of them." Their mother voice calling out for Zack was heard. "It's time to go take your medicine, Zack. And it's time for me to go."

"Do you have to?" Zack asked.

"Yes, but I'll be back soon enough. You'll barely notice," TJ assured him. He walked with Zack downstairs and watched him walk into the kitchen where their mother was waiting for him. Grabbing his set of keys, he walked out the door after telling his parents he was leaving. The walk was paced, but he wanted to get to his destination quick. He wanted to get to Prickly's house before his phone was ringing from his mother's frantic calls to make sure he was okay.

When he approached the house, he saw a moving truck parked on the sidewalk with movers bringing furniture out of the house and putting it in the truck. For a moment, TJ wondered if he was moving, but didn't believe it right away. If he was, then he was sure that he would've visited him in the hospital before leaving.

He sped up his pace to reach the front door. He move out of the way just in time before a large armoire was carried out of the house. Behind the movers, a woman in who appeared to be in her early fifties stepped outside. Her hair was messy, and her clothes, though formal, was just the same. She sniffled into a tissue and when she noticed TJ, tried to straighten her appearance.

"Hello," She said between sniffled. "What can I do for you, young man?"

"Yeah, um, is Prickly here?" He asked.

"Oh, Peter. My brother, he's not with us anymore." TJ felt like a ton of bricks landed on his chest. That can't be right. She had to be lying. The last time he saw him, he looked relatively healthy for his age. He had plenty of years left! "May I ask what your name is?"

"TJ Detweiler, ma'am."

"Detweiler," She repeated. "During the reading of the will, he mentioned you. He left you something. You'll have to go downtown to get it. I'll go inside and write down the address, for you."

Out of shock, TJ sat on the stairs of the porch. He sat on the edge to stay out of the mover's way. He had wondered why the former principal hadn't visited him in the hospital. He brushed it off as nothing. Besides, he was planning on coming over his house whenever he could, but now it was too late.

The woman eventually came back out with a piece of paper with the address as well as an envelope. After saying thank you, TJ headed back home.

After reading the letter, TJ had to lay down on his bed. The entirety of the letter was ol Petey wishing him well in life, hoping that he would get things together and go on to find happiness, and that getting to know him was one of the things he appreciated the most. By the end of reading it, it would be a lie if he didn't say he was in tears.

TJ guessed that his former principal left him something in his will that he would have to go and retrieve, but what? The guy already left him a car. What else could he give him?

Money, apparently. Not a lot, just enough for say, college? TJ guessed that was what it was for, given how he couldn't even touch it unless he was in college, and then he would get a small allowance every month.

If only the guy was here to say thank you too.

It was about 2 in the morning when a beep from his phone woke TJ up. He was already having trouble falling and staying asleep, so he was about ready to give up on that battle anyways. Carefully turning to not wake Zack, he picked up his phone and looked to see who text him.

It was JoJo asking if he could come and see him. Why it couldn't wait until the morning, he didn't know. But sleep wasn't going to happen, so it wouldn't hurt to go and see what he wanted, right? With a few tap of the keys, he sent a message letting JoJo where to meet him.

It only took a few minutes for him to get there. JoJo was already standing there, waiting.

"Hey," TJ said as he approached JoJo. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," JoJo said. "How you feeling?"

"Great, for a guy that got shot in the chest," He said. "Why'd you want to see me?"

". . .You remember when I kissed you?"

"Oh, yeah. That hasn't been on my mind, though. What with recent events," said TJ. "But I remember. What was with that?"

"I dunno how I feel, honestly. I know there's _something_ there. But I'm not sure," said JoJo. He shrugged. "Probably shouldn't have done that when you're still with that girl."

"It's fine. Me and Ashley aren't even together anymore," he said.

"So what about you? You feel anything?"

". . .I'd be lying if I said no," TJ said. "It's nothing big, but it's there, after thinking about it, like you said."

There was an awkward silence between them. Being in the middle of the night with not a soul around or a car on the road made it seem like they were even more alone.

"I could go for a soda. Any places around here open 24-hours?" JoJo asked.

"Yeah, there's one place. About ten minutes from here," TJ said. "You willing to walk that far?"

"Yeah. I actually wan a soda _that_ bad," JoJo said.

The store was overly bright. The empty isle made it easy just to pick out a few things and head right back out. The cap on a bottle of orange soda snapped from its seal as JoJo twisted it open and took a drink.

"So what do we do now?" JoJo asked. TJ shrugged.

"Do we go out, or something?" He asked. "I don't mind, if that's what you wanna do."

"I guess, but I kinda like it how it is now, too. All casual like."

"Then we don't have to make it anything fancy. We could just 'be'."

"Yeah, I think I'd like that," said JoJo. "What ae you planning on doing after you get your GED?"

"College, probably. Dunno what for though. I'll probably end up at veterinary school, 'cause of Duracell," He said. "What about you?"

"Community college. Maybe I'll learn a trade or something, I'm not sure either," said JoJo. "You got a better plan than me."

The two of them yawned.

"It's late. Do you mind me going back home? I think I need my rest."

"Right. Alright. I'm not gonna hold you up. I'll see you later, Freckles.."


End file.
